Beyond the Boundary
by alanw6616
Summary: Rejected from Beacon, Jaune gets an offer to take a new path into the unknown world of the supernatural, and quickly learns that grimm aren't the only creatures that stalk the night. It might not be what he wanted, but if it means keeping his dream alive, he can adapt. After all, dealing in magic can't be any harder than being a huntsman.
1. Chapter 1

Jaune knew he shouldn't be disappointed. This had been the expected outcome. His chances had been nearly nil, but it still hurt. The rejection letter hung loosely in his hand, swaying with the cool night air. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if he had been more honest about it. He could have just said he tried and it didn't work out, but he had gotten his hopes up. He thought smudging the truth would be enough to close the gap between him and his dream, but not even fake Jaune, who had actually gone to combat school and made decent grades, had been good enough for Beacon. So, if fake Jaune couldn't overcome the hurdle then what chance did real Jaune have?

The path to becoming a huntsman was over. He had tried so hard, too. Saving money, forging transcripts, running off to Vale even taking his family sword. He had betrayed his family and shattered his moral compass. "The end justifies the means," he had told himself, but now the end was here and he had nothing to show for it.

What should he do? What _could_ he do? He was in Vale basically broke and definitely alone. Should he just go home, or should he get a job and try to make a life in Vale? Neither option was very appealing. One required him to admit to his family that they were right, and he was a failure. The other was akin to ignoring his mistakes and hoping that it would somehow just all work out, and that was pretty much just a slightly altered version of the original plan which had gotten him in this situation in the first place.

 _Nice going, Jaune. You tried to become a hero by playing the villain, and now your life's a mess because you couldn't commit to one side_. Not good enough to be a huntsman the normal way, but not bad to fully commit to his cheating. If he was going to forge his transcripts, he should have made them the best they could be, not the half-assed lie he had submitted to try and get in somewhat honorably. Jaune shoved the rejection letter into his jean pocket and cupped his head in his hands. He wouldn't cry—that was one thing he wouldn't allow, but damn he wanted to.

Jaune pushed himself up, Crocea Mors hitting the metal bench as he did. The city was dark and the park was quiet. In the daylight, it was probably a beautiful place where couples could flirt and families could have picnics, but at night it was left for homeless drifters and sulking teenagers.

The sound of his shoes hitting concrete reverberated through his body as he walked out onto the street. It was only just past 10:00, but it felt so much later. A few cars still lingered on the road, their headlight piercing the asphalt as they sulked by. Somebody tossed a hamburger wrapper out their window while driving by, and Jaune felt obligated to pick it up and take it to a nearby trashcan. A bad person wouldn't have taken the time to do that. Then again, a huntsman wouldn't have bothered, so where did that put Jaune? The nice boy, who lived down the street, that would take you to the school dance if you didn't have anyone else to go with?

Jaune walked in the vague direction of his low-rent apartment, counting the shattered moon fragments. Had it always been that way, or had something happened to it, and if so what must it have been like to watch a constant part of your life break before your very eyes? Had it been an explosive impact, sending debris every which way, or had it been a slow separation where every night the cracks got bigger and bigger until the stress became too much?

Jaune ran into a lamppost. That's what he got for looking at the sky and metaphorically comparing the state of the moon to the state his soul. He rubbed his forehead and looked around to see if anyone had noticed his little accident. There was a group of guys on the other side of the street, but their attention was on something else. They looked to be surrounding it. Jaune caught a brief flash of brown hair before it was lost to the surrounding crowd. Realizing what was going on, Jaune crossed the street as the crowd laughed and jeered. He might not have been a huntsman, but he could still help.

"Gang" was too powerful a word to describe them, they mostly looked like clueless drunks only a couple years older than Jaune. Still, they had numbers on their side and things could get bad if they decided to take their harassment up a notch. Keeping one hand on the hilt of his sword, he approached the men catching a little bit of what they were saying.

"Why don't you come back to my place?"

"Yeah, what's the worst that could happen?"

"I bet you've never seen a man like me."

"Excuses me," Jaune cut in, causing the crowd's attention to shift towards him. Jaune could see who their target had been, and all he could say was that she was _way_ too young. Admittedly, she was very beautiful—but Monty Oum these guys were sick. Her head barely reached above their belts…although that could have been the appeal. "I don't know if you can tell, but she doesn't look interested." The disgusted in his voice was apparent.

"And who are you to be telling us how to spend our night?" one of the larger men in the group spat.

"A decent person," Jaune said, moving his hand to bring attention to the sword at his side. Hopefully the sight of a weapon would be enough for them to back off.

"So, you some kinda knight?" the same man said, taking in Jaune's appearance.

"If I have t—" Jaune never got to finish that sentence as he felt glass shatter on the back of his head. One of the guys had circled behind him. He stumbled forward trying to pull Crocea Mors out of its sheath, but a fist to his face stopped that from happing. His vision cut out for a second and something wet drip onto his upper lip before another punch to the gut brought him to his knees. From there, it was a full-on assault as the crowd gathered around to kick him. Jaune had no hope of defending against the blows, only able to curl himself into a smaller target. The last thing he saw before blacking out was the girl he "helped" pulling something from the hilt of her brightly colored parasol.

* * *

Jaune woke up…somewhere. It was too clean to be his apartment, but too dirty to be a hospital. There also weren't any windows, just four grey, concrete walls and a single metal door. There was some light shining through, and he thought he could hear people talking on the other side. If his head wasn't pounding, he probably could've made out what they were saying.

His whole body ached as he sat up from the plain bed, and he had to remove some blood covered tissues that had been stuffed into his nose. Whoever had brought him here had obviously only done the bare minimum in medical care. He pulled down the covers to discover he didn't have Crocea Mors…or his wallet, or his scroll. "Great, rejected from Beacon then beat up and robbed of everything I have. Could this day get any worse?"

"Well, that depends on how you look at it," A flamboyant voice said walking through the door.

"Who are you?" Jaune asked his eyes trying to adjust to the sudden change in light level.

"The name's Roman Torchwick, kid, and you're a very lucky guy. Neo doesn't just bring anyone back to our hideout. Tell me, are you a succubus?"

"A what?"

"I'm just messing with ya, kid. It's going to take a lot more than—let's be generous and call it—assisting Neo to work your way into her pants, but if you ask real nice, she might give you a pity kiss, only on the cheek though."

"I-I wa-wasn't…" Jaune stuttered, his face going bright red.

"Really," Roman said, leaning on his cane, "you rushed in to save the damsel, and you never thought about how your heroic action might land you a little reward?"

"I didn't!" Jaune denied. "I would never think about a kid like that."

Roman laughed. "You better not let Neo hear you say that. Your luck with the ladies might come to an abrupt end, along with your life. She might look young but she's got a couple years on you, and doesn't much like it when you treat her like a child even if she does act like one." Roman smirked, got off his cane and walked right up to Jaune's bed. "So, now that you know she's not a kid, what are your thoughts?"

Jaune fixed the most deadpan expression he could and looked Roman in the eyes. "You're having a little too much fun with this."

Roman laughed again. "Hey, I'm just being a good host. My little teasing got your mind off the fact that you've been robbed of all your stuff, taken to an unknown place and talking to an unknown man." Jaune was about to point out that his mind was now very much concerned about those things, but Roman cut him off with ease. "Now, get out of bed. We need to talk about some things."

Jaune didn't have any time to argue, no doubt getting left behind if he didn't follow immediately. They walked through narrow hallways occasionally passing by people wearing dark black suits. Jaune also noticed that every single one of them was armed with at least a pistol. It probably should have occurred before now, but Jaune was getting very worried about what Roman could want with him. He didn't have any special skill, and certainly Roman had better ways of getting help than picking unconscious teenagers off the side of the road.

Meanwhile the man himself, completely oblivious to Jaune's growing anxiety, was twirling his cane and humming an upbeat tune. At this point, Jaune wouldn't be surprised if he broke out in song and dance. Maybe Roman was actually crazy, and if he was, Jaune was in a whole new world of trouble.

Roman continued to lead them down serval twist and turn before they ended up at a door that looked far nicer than any of the others. "Here we are," Roman said. "My own personal suite." When Roman opened the door, Jaune could have been convinced that they had teleported to another building. The room was completely different from the rest of the dull complex. Nice red carpet, glass chandelier, plump couches, a glass table fixed with flowers and wine. It was like a luxury hotel room.

Roman walked in, took a seat and immediately started filling a wine glass. "Would you like some?" he asked when he noticed Jaune still looking from the doorway.

"No thanks. I don't drink," Jaune said sinking into the couch across from Roman.

"You should. It might take the edge off, and if you're this nervous now you might not make it to the end of this conversation."

It hadn't been delivered as a threat, but Jaune went ice cold. This was make or break it time. Jaune scanned the room looking for possible escapes routes, but there were only two doors, one in the back that probably lead to a bedroom, and the entrance they had come from. Even if he could get out of this room, without Roman killing him, he would be completely lost in the maze of hallways. Like it or not, and Jaune certainly did not, he was trapped in here. "What do you want from me?"

"Have a drink," Roman said filling up another wine glass. "At this rate, you'll dehydrated from all the sweat you're leaking."

"I would rather have this conversation with a rational mind," Jaune responded hesitantly.

Roman set the newly filled glass down, and looked Jaune up and down with predatory eyes. Then he smiled. "You know kid despite all the evidence I've seen to the contrary, you actually have a decent head on your shoulder, so I'll stop keeping you in suspense. I what to make you an offer, and this isn't one of those criminal offers you can't refuse. If you say no, then you can leave here safe and sound. What do you say, Jaune?"

"How do you know my name?"

"I took a look at your ID when I riffled through your pockets. I also saw the letter. Rejected from Beacon, huh. Is that why you were so eager to pick a fight?"

Jaune looked down, ashamed. Roman wasn't pulling any punches. Beacon, his dream, was dead. There was nothing left for him but an empty life in Vale or plain life back home. His parents would forgive him without a second thought, he knew that, but that wasn't the life he wanted. He wanted to be somebody, a person his parents and sisters could look up to. Becoming a huntsman had seemed like the only way to accomplish that, but maybe there was another way. It couldn't hurt to listen. "Alright, I'll bite. What's this offer."

Roman's smile grew even wider, almost splitting his face in two. Jaune imagined the room turning into a burning landscape with Roman morphing into the Devil, holding a contact for Jaune's soul. It was a terrifying picture, and definitely signaled for things to come. Jaune wanted to run and not listen to a word Roman had to say. They were poisonous. Listening may as well be agreeing, but Jaune stayed where he was, unable to say no.

"Neo, would you come greet our guest." Suddenly the image shattered like a broken mirror, and Jaune was back in the well decorated suite with Roman and a new tri-colored girl sitting right beside him. "This is Neo, my lovely assistant, and the person who brought you here." She smiled brightly and waved at Jaune.

Jaune waved back, awkwardly. "Thank you for helping me, and sorry for getting in your way. I'm sure you had it covered without me," Jaune added.

Neo flapped her hand in the motion for "it's fine," but she didn't actually say anything. Roman looked amused. "Don't worry about it, kid. Neo might be a great fighter with a slightly sadistic streak, but even she appreciates a little chivalry." Neo nodded in agreement. "By the way, before we get down to business, why don't we chat. Rummaging through people's belongings is a good way to get to know a person, but it doesn't do much for fostering connections."

"I guess, that's fine," Jaune said, relaxing a bit, grateful he had gained more time to work up the courage to walk away. Too bad, in the back of his mind he knew that no amount of time would be enough. Just a chance to reclaim some of his dream was enough. The temptation had already cut too deep.

"Great," Roman clapped, "why'd you what to go to beacon in the first place?"

"I wanted to be a hero. Someone strong enough to protect others."

"Aww, tragic backstory?"

"Nothing like that. I don't really know how to describe it. It was just something I was drawn towards. Like it was my destiny."

"Destiny's crap. Just a word people throw around when they're too scared to make a choice, or to use as a justification for their actions. Even the most solid of paths can be altered if someone so much as flicks a pebble onto it." Roman stopped to take a drink. "Why did you go for Beacon, anyways. They only take the best of the best, and, judging from your fight with those drunks, you're not exactly what I would call I prodigy. Why'd even bother applying."

"I forged my transcripts," Jaune admitting, feeling like Roman wasn't the type of person who cared about bending the law. "It didn't matter, though. I still got rejected."

"Probably played it safe and made them pretty modest. Average doesn't cut it in Beacon. If you wanted in, you should have had a recommendation from general Ironwood himself. You're just lucky they didn't catch on. The council gives Beacon a lot of money and they don't appreciate their funds being wasted on liars and cheats."

"Yeah, it was pretty stupid of me. I probably would have died on the first day."

"I wouldn't say it's stupid. I'd say it's flexible. You want to be a hero, but that doesn't mean you're not willing to break a few rules to get there. Whatever it takes, the consequences be dammed, it's all or nothing. Reminds me of myself when I was younger. Better than I expected for someone Neo randomly got off the street. Tell me, kid, what do you think I do?"

"Going from context clues, I'm going to have to guess you're a criminal," Jaune said flatly.

"Ha, I'm not just _a_ criminal. I'm _the_ criminal, Roman Torchwick, thief and mastermind extraordinaire!" Neo clapped as Roman struck a pose. "But that's not really right either." Roman sat back down taking another sip of wine. "Being a criminal is more of a hobby, a very profitable hobby, but my main job is being a caretaker."

"A caretaker? Like someone who cleans houses?"

"In a sense, but I take care of much more than mere houses. Neo get the stuff." Neo nodded, disappeared and then reappeared with a huge book with Jaune's things on top, sword included. "You said you wanted to be a hero, but there are other ways to get there besides being a huntsman. There's much more to this world than auras and semblances, and there's a lot more to be afraid of than just grimm and people. Magic, oddities, living nightmares, they're all around us."

"What are you talking about?" Jaune said. "If things like that existed, people would have seen them."

"The human brain is much more selective than you might think. You assume that you miss nothing within your sight, but that's hardly the case. People ignore, or don't recognize things all the time, and even when they do, people have a tendency to rationalize even the most irrational, but once you start looking, you notice it everywhere. Have you ever read or learned something new only for that same exact thing to pop up sometime later? For example, when you get a new car, you suddenly notice anyone else driving the same model. At first it seems like a huge coincidence, but as it keeps happening you realize that they've been there all along."

"Fine, even if the public don't know, shouldn't the huntsmen and huntress know," Jaune argued. "They are the defenders of the world, and they should notice things like that."

"They're just as blind as anyone else; though, I suppose the old wizard must have known at some point, but he became so obsessed with Salam that he grew tunnel vision. It's actually quiet an impressive feat to forget something like that, or I guess, he could have convinced himself he's the only one who possess such knowledge. Ha, the only people who believe they're unique are children and fools."

"Who are you talking about?"

"Sorry, ignore that. Wouldn't want to tell you too many Remnant shattering secrets at once."

"Fine," Jaune relented, "but why tell me anything at all. Why choice me?"

"Don't misunderstand, kid. There's no particular I'm telling you this. You're not special, or the star of some ancient prophecy. I could be telling this to any number of other people…well not really, the readership wouldn't be very happy if you weren't a named _RWBY_ character, but that doesn't have any bearing in this context so forget about it. The only reason you're sitting here is because you just so happened to witness Neo being harassed, and just so happed to get yourself involved which just so happened to lead to Neo bringing you here which just so happened to be around exact same time I was thinking about passing this information along…"

"Fine, I get it. I'm a nobody who just got lucky, but that doesn't explain why you're willing to pass this information on at all. I doubt you just give world altering secret to strangers on a whim."

"You're right about that. The truth is, I've taken on a contract that will leave me incapable of participating as a caretaker for a while, and when that happens it's traditional to pass the torch along."

"So, you're asking me to be your apprentice," Jaune said, not really sure how much he wanted to be associated with Vale's most wanted criminal.

Roman shook his head. "Not a chance. This right here," Roman patted the massive textbook sized tome on the table, "is your teacher. You see although I'm telling you all this, I don't have any stake in your success or failure. You could die the second you walk out of here and I wouldn't lift a finger. I'm not giving you my help, just some information." Roman slid the book and Jaune's things across the table.

Jaune picked up his sword and attached it to is hip more out of habit than anything else. The book was his focus. It was grey all around with no title or markings. A lot of the pages were crinkly and had a slightly yellow tent. "What's in here?" he asked, afraid it might collapse into dust if he tried to so much as touched it.

"Think of it like a Pokédek for the unknown world."

"A what?"

"A Pokédek, you know an index for Pokémon."

Jaune felt like telling Roman that he still had no idea what that was would be a waste of time. "Won't you still need this, though?"

"Don't worry about that. I haven't opened that book in years. I've got the digital version on my scroll. It's much more convenient, and you can search for keywords instead of looking through that mess of pages."

"What the hell! Why can't I have that version?" Jaune said, feeling the wonderment of getting to examine mythical text disintegrate.

"No can do. You have to suffer through that horribly structured mess the same way I had to." Jaune wanted to throw the book at Roman's smirking face, but he didn't want to end up dead, so he settled for a scathing stare which Neo looked to find more assuming than threating.

"So, what does a caretaker actually do?"

"That's the best part! You can do whatever you want. No rules to follow. No boss to report to. It's just you and your imagination. You can stick with your heroic agenda and go around helping people. You can use your newfound knowledge to create some chaos and try to take over the world. You can take this book, bury it in a closet, and never think about it again. You can even take everything you know and go public with it although word of advice, that would be a really bad idea. People are scared enough with the threats they know. Telling them about the stuff they don't know might just be the end of them either by all the grimm that would come swarming or through their own terrified actions." Roman said that last part like he was sharing an inside joke. Jaune was a little creeped out.

"I won't be doing anything like that. I came to Vale to help people, and that hasn't changed." He ran his finger along the cover thinking of all he could accomplish. He was in possession of something special. He had come to Vale with no skills and no unique traits, but now he could accomplish things not even fully trained huntsmen could handle, or at least theoretically he could. It only now occurred to him that despite all of Roman's talk Jaune didn't know a thing about this unknown world, and then another thought came to mind. One he probably should have asked a lot sooner. "Are you just messing with me?"

Roman and Neo turned to look at each other for a second before they both burst into laughter although Neo's was oddly silent. "I was wonder when you were going to ask that, kid." Roman wiped a few tears from his eyes. Jaune felt the urge to hit him again. "The truth is, there's nothing I can say to absolutely squash your doubts. The only way to do that is for you to go and see for yourself."

"I guess that's all I can ask for," Jaune sighed.

"Don't look so gloomy. I know I said I don't care about the outcome, but I'm not leaving you complete stranded. I put my number in your scroll, and you're allowed to call me three times to ask any question you want. I'll answer as best I can, no false clues, no half-truths and no hidden meanings or cryptic wordplay, thief's honor. Think of me like a hint guide. I also gave you some tips on the inside cover of the book, just to get your started."

"Really?" Jaune moved to lift the cover, but Roman suddenly rapped his knuckles with his cane, slamming the book shut.

"Not so fast, you'll still haven't given me and answer. Do you want to become a caretaker?"The image of a hellfire landscape and a soul binding contract came back. The devil was looking down at him with a smirk that made Jaune's entire body scream in warning. "Don't! This will destroy us!" it shouted.

Jaune didn't care.

He grabbed the pen and sighed his name in blood.

 _Whatever cometh forth is now a beast of thy own making._

The scene dissipated again.

"Alright Jaune, you have officially stepped beyond the boundary into a world you know not. I wish you the best of luck. I really do if nothing else, it should be fun to watch, but before you go can do one thing for me?" Neo leaded forward and spread a stack of cards along the glass table. "Pick one and flip it over."

Each of the cards had an eyeball on the back which all seemed to be watching Jaune. Even when he adjusted his body they seemed to follow. Not wanting to experience the strange sensation for any longer than he had to, Jaune just choose the card closest to him.

"Ah, the ace of swords," Roman said.

"What does that mea—"

Jaune was suddenly back in his apartment, laying in his bed. It wasn't like he had blacked out or anything. It was if he had blinked, and in the moment his vision had been cut off by his eyelids, he had been teleported back to his apartment. Jaune got up, the bed groaning unearth his weight, and made his way to the bathroom wondering if he had gone crazy.

Normally June tried to avoid his bathroom as much as he could. It was by far the worst feature of his already crappy apartment. The whole thing had a greenish tint to it, there was some sort of fungus growing in the corner of the shower, most of the floor titles were missing or cracked and everything smelled like rotting garbage.

Jaune stood in front of the, somehow still intact, mirror and splashed some cold water on his face. He didn't look too good. His face and arms were covered in bruises and his clothes were dirty and slightly bloody. Those guys had really given it to him, so at least they had been real. Now he just had to figure out if any of the stuff after that was.

Jaune walked out into the main part of his apartment. There was a bed, a dresser, a mini-fridge (broken), a ceiling fan, and that was it. It wasn't very homely, but the runaway Arc didn't have much money, and it was better than the streets. The plan had been to only suffer through his living arrangements until Beacon started in two months, but now he might have to look into extending his stay.

It would suck, but all heroes started out barely getting by. Being poor and unrecognized was like a prerequisite, and he had already begun The Hero's Journey. He just needed to find that book. He looked around the small apartment and quickly spotted it on his bed. It definitely hadn't been there when he had gotten up, but screw it, Jaune didn't care anymore.

He opened the book and looked at the back of the cover. Written in a style that may have been the perfect representation of Roman's personality was the tips he was promises.

 _Things to remember:_

 _1\. You'll never find anything if you're not looking._

 _2\. Every detail matters._

 _3\. It can always get worse._

Jaune wasn't going to lie, he had been expecting something a little more concert or even remotely helpful, but this was still fine. That was just a joke. He had an entire book to help him. A massive one with pages on pages of information on subjects Jaune didn't know a think about, and probably a lot of complicated concepts…maybe some math too. Oh Oum, he was getting tired just thinking about it.

He slogged to the only window in his apartment. The sun was starting to rise, glistening off the alleyway that was Jaune's view. It looked nice if you ignored the drug deal, and the stains that Jaune didn't want to recognize as, but probably was, human blood.

So, maybe things hadn't quite gone as planned. Jaune wouldn't be going to Beacon and he wouldn't be the beloved hero of remnant, but a new path had opened up. With this book, his dream was still within his grasp. He just hoped that his attempt to become caretaker would go better than his attempt to become a huntsman.

* * *

 **An: Not a very exciting chapter I know. I tried to make the conversation with Roman as interesting as possible, but all the explanations were necessary to set up the world especially when this story is going to play by a much different ruleset than cannon. I promise future chapters will have more to them, but for now I can only hope you're all find this concept as interesting as I do. It should be a very unique journey.**


	2. Chapter 2

Things were not going better.

When Jaune was trying to become a huntsman, he at least knew the steps to get there, but for this he had no clue, and it wasn't for lack of trying. He had spent the entire first day going over that book, trying to learn as much as he could. Sadly, that day had proven to be a waste of time. Roman wasn't joking when he said that book was a complete mess. Jaune wondered if it was even correct to call it a book at this point. What percentage of pages had to have fallen off the spine before it was just considered pages in a folder? If it was any less than 70, Jaune had a folder on his hands. That in itself wasn't a big issue, it was the fact that there wasn't a semblance of organization. The book must have passed through many hands before getting to him, and it wasn't like each new author picked up where the previous left off. One entry might be about how the geography of the land can have different effects while the very next entry could be about casting spells from the subconscious mind then forty pages later there'll be an entry on how to negate the effects of different landscapes. Basically, if you wanted to find anything, you had to scour the whole book and just hope it pops out. Because of that, there was no way to tell if the pages were even in the correct order. Normally it didn't matter, but if a single subject was spread over more than one page, there was a chance those pages could be on opposite sides of the book, and knowing his luck all the vital information would be on the page he didn't have.

The multitude of authors also created another problem. The writing style and quality varied drastically. Some parts were seemingly just the ramblings of a madman while other were so technical that Jaune would need a dictionary to deceiver it. Drawings also had the tendency to either be so realistic that it felt like the creatures might jump off the page, or so bad that they were barely better than stick figures. But, while irritating, none of those issues where catastrophic. Jaune could work through them with enough time.

The true problem, the one that stopped him from making any progress, was the content itself. Jaune just didn't understand it. Spells, monsters, soul splitting, world cracks, plane hopping, everything in the book was so outside his realm of knowledge he couldn't tell what concepts were for beginners or experts. It was like given a calculus book to a five-year old, sure there was the basics of adding and subtracting in there but that wouldn't mean much to them.

The unknown world didn't look like it worked on a linear progression system either. It was a web of branching and combining fields. Even if Jaune tried his hardest to grasp one of the concepts, there was no telling where he could go with it. It might put him on a path that was of no practical use, or it might place him too far where he misses an essential concept.

What he needed was a definite staring point. Something he could branch out from. The book, as it was, wouldn't be able to give him that, so the next day he came up with a new plan. Instead of using the book to work his way through the unknown world, he would use the unknown world to work his way through the book. If he could just discover a case about a strange event or item, he could us that as his reference and go from there.

He went to the Vale library because turns out that typing "mysteries in Vale" into his scroll didn't exactly yield reliable results. Call him skeptical, but he didn't think Slippery, the panty stealing sewer monster, was something worth investigating. The library's front desk worker was this old lady who was very nice and led him straight to the archive section. When Jaune explained that he was doing research for a school project, she seemed to get a little too excited and got him every Vale newspaper from the past year. Jaune thanked her and she told him that if he needed anything to just ask.

Once she left, Jaune admired the frightening large stack of paper in front of him. His brain protested at the thought of reading all that in the form of a killer headache, but he pushed through telling himself he only needed one lead.

Hours went by and Jaune didn't come any closer to finding his starting point. Don't get him wrong, the newspapers had covered mysteries aplenty, but they were either lacking any details, irrelevant now, or couldn't be confirm using the damn book. Seriously, there had been several that Jaune had a really good feeling about but matching them to anything in the book proved to be an incredible difficult task. Granted, he had gotten pretty tired and frustrated after the first few tries, so he hadn't been as meticulous as he probably should have been.

More hours lead to more false guesses and eventually Jaune called it quits. Second hand experiences on things that may or may not relate to the book wasn't going to cut it. He would need to find something himself.

Now, Jaune knew hunting magical occurrences without any information probably wasn't the best idea, but he wouldn't even be in Vale if wasn't willing to take risks, so way quit now?

On the third day, he went searching. Abandon buildings were a center piece for hauntings, and there just so happened to be a few next to Jaune's apartment, so he started there. The first one he looked at turned out not to be quite as abandon as he thought. Five or six homeless faunus were squatting there and they weren't very happy to see a human barge in.

Luckily, he was a fast runner.

The second building was a combination of used syringes and urine puddles, but no strange items or markers. The third and fourth were striped of everything of any value and their only occupations were the biggest spiders Jaune had ever seen. Upon that reveal, he decided not to investigate any farther. The fifth…well, Jaune didn't want to think about it. The acts those two people had been doing were two much for his young, innocent eyes.

Realizing that dark and dingy places were home to the type of horrors Jaune wasn't looking for, he changed paths started hitting some museums. They were home to artifacts and legends of history. There had to be at least something that housed unnatural powers. The calm and bright atmosphere did wonders for his mood. Jaune was actually fonder of history than most, not just growing up on made-up story book heroes, but the real ones too.

Still, the heroes of old didn't offer any help, and the plaque descriptions weren't giving him what he needed.

Having suffered two busts, Jaune made one last trip to the Vale graveyard. Surly, something would be out there. You can't just put a bunch of dead people in the ground and expected for everything to be okay. There had to be something! Jaune even waited till midnight to improve his odds.

He wandered around the tombstones for about two hours before the groundskeeper kicked him out.

On the fourth day, he laid in bed feeling sorry for himself and wondering if he should shallow his pride and use his first call to Roman.

On the fifth day, he had an epiphany. Even if he did discover something and find his starting point, it wasn't like he would be getting paid for it. Forget surviving the unknown world, Jaune was barely surviving in this one. He needed money and to get that he needed a job.

Which lead him to where he was now, manning the back kitchen of a lively nightclub. It wasn't his first job choice, but Junior, his new boss, had been willing to hire him on the spot, no questions asked, when Jaune had produced a sample dish. He was by no means a master cook, but Junior had said he was more than good enough for this place. After all, most people came here just for the alcoholic drinks. As such the menu was pretty bare and Jaune wasn't expected to make anything more complicated than burgers and fries.

In all honesty, it was a pretty decent gig judging from his first couple hours of work. Apparently, there hadn't actually been a full-time cook before Jaune, the job having been outsourced to one of the other employees every night, so he had the whole kitchen to himself. If anyone asked, Jaune was definitely telling them he was the head chef at a popular nightclub.

It was a decent sized kitchen, too. It could have easily accommodated a full kitchen staff with a large grill, two fryers, plenty of shelve and prep space and a walk-in freezer. At first, it was a little overwhelming to realize how much he was responsible for, but it soon became apparent that he would be doing more waiting than cooking. He had been at it for a couple hours and only a handful of orders came in, all only requiring him to throw some meat on the grill and some potatoes in the fryer. It did seem a bit unnecessary to have such a large kitchen because of that, but what did Jaune know. The building could've just been built that way.

"Oh, mister cooook~" Jaune turned to see one of the twins walking into the kitchen. It took Jaune a second to remember which one was which, but it came to him quick enough.

"What can I do for you, Melanie," Jaune said making sure to give her his full attention.

"Wow, you remembered after only one meeting. I should switch dresses with Miltia sometime just to make sure you're paying attention."

"I would never mistake a beautiful girl like you for anyone else."

Melanie rolled her eyes. "I'd give it a three out of ten. I've heard worse, but it was still corny and you indirectly insulted my sister." Jaune deflated. "Aw, cheer up. A three's still much better than anything the muscleheads outside have tried."

"So, you're saying I have a chance?" Jaune beamed.

Melanie shook her head and chuckled into her hand. "Not with me you don't, but I'm sure there's some girl out there that will settle for average."

"I know I should be offended, but I'm just so happy you believe in me," Jaune said, wiping away some fake tears.

"You're an idiot. Now can you do your job and make me a salad. I didn't come in here to help you practice your pick-up lines. I'm surprised you even had the balls to try. You seem like the kind of person who would end up a strutting mess if a girl so much as looked at you."

"My dad says, all you need is confidence, and I take those words to heart." Melanie didn't look convinced. "Plus, I have seven sisters all with their own group of friends," Jaune added. "You can only deal with a bunch of girls trying their best to embarrass you for so long before you build up a tolerance."

"That explains it."

"Yeah, I'm sure you'd get along great if you ever meet any of them. Here's your salad."

"Thanks, Junior told me to give you this order, by the way."

"What! Shouldn't you have given this to me first. It could have been done by now," Jaune complained, quickly slapping some beef on the grill.

"But then my salad would have taken a little longer and a beautiful girl like me shouldn't have to wait."

"You might have had to wait an extra second. That customer is going to have to wait a lot longer because of you."

"Does it look like I care?"

"I know you don't, but I do. It's my first day if I get any complaints Junior might fire me."

"Relax, he might be a mob boss, but he's not so evil that he'll bust your ass over something like this."

Jaune's face lost all emotion as he stared at Melanie. "I feel like you weren't supposed to tell me that."

Now it was Melanie's turn to look shocked. "Wait, you didn't realize."

"Well, Junior did tell me that if anyone comes through the back, I'm supposed to keep doing my job and not ask questions, and the guys outside were wearing some pretty shady looking suits, and I did see you and your sister threaten some guy with some very sharp looking blades, but I like to give people the benefit of the doubt."

Melanie laughed, genuinely laughed. "You saw all that and you still asked for a job. How desperate are you?"

Jaune turned his head away from the laughing twin. "No comment."

"Alright, I'll let you off the hook tonight Mr. Mysterious, but don't think I'm done with you. All new employees have to go through my special vetting process."

"If I pass, will I get one of those suits? I feel out of place without it."

"We'll see," she said, sashaying out of the kitchen.

Jaune sighed and leaned on a counter. Why was he always the one to attracted the mischievous girls? Just once he wanted to find a girl that would blush and find his sweat talk romantic, and not make it their life goal to try and one-up him for it. Maybe it was a curse or some magical trait the Arc line possessed. Every detail mattered, apparently.

Suddenly Jaune smelled something burning…oh shit, the burger! Jaune rushed to the grill finding the meat too charred to save. He must have dozed off longer than he thought. "Is the order ready?" Junior yelled from the bar.

"Almost done," Jaune lied.

* * *

Laundromats were depressing places. Talking was apparently forbidden, so everyone just sat around listening to the hum of the washers. Sad to say, Jaune was one of those people.

The up side to working at a nightclub was he only had to work…well at night. The day was still his to do whatever he wanted. He just wished he had better things to do than wait here for two hours, but he didn't really have a choice. His clothes needed cleaned and unsurprisingly his apartment complex didn't provide that service. It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't so awkward. The few times he'd been here he hadn't seen anyone, besides him, under the age of fifty. They all gave him pitying gazes when they saw him too. One lady even asked him if he needed some lien to help pay for his laundry. He might be broke, but he wasn't that broke.

That said, the beat-up jeans, Pumpkin Pete hoodie and messy blond hair probably didn't dispel the image that he was homeless.

There was a TV in the corner, no sound just captions, that was running a news story on the recent spree of dust robberies. They showed a mugshot of Roman Torchwick, the suspected perpetrator, and Jaune once again asked himself if he should give him a call. Every day of futile effort made it more tempting, but Jaune kept holding back. If he needed help to find the first step, how could he make it up the rest?

Banishing that thought from his mind, he pulled his scroll out of his pocket having downloaded a few free games to help past the time. Before he could get to that though, he saw he had another missed call from his mother. It must have been obvious to his family what he had done by now, but they still worried. He had gotten calls from everyone asking about where he was and how he was doing? Jaune never answered or called back too embarrassed to speak to them. The only thing he had done was send his mom a brief text assuring her that he was fine and still alive. It was selfish and cruel to avoid them, Jaune knew that. He just wasn't sure what might happen if he did talk to them. Things just weren't looking too good right now, and Jaune knew that if he talked with his family, it wouldn't take much to persuade him to come back home.

What could he even say in his defense? "Welp, I didn't make it into Beacon and I might be living in a disaster of an apartment and I'm quickly running out of money, but it's all okay because I met a guy named Roman Torchwick. What, the famous criminal? Yeah, that's the one. Anyways, he gave me a book that's going to help me learn magic. Also, I got a job running the kitchen of a club that's actually a front for the mafia. So, as you can see I'm doing great, love ya!"

Jaune was sure that wouldn't give his mom a heart attack at all.

The timer on his laundry went off, and everyone turned to give him a sharp look like it was his fault the washer had disturbed their nothingness. Still, all those wrinkly faces looking at him made him a little nervous, so he quickly got his clothes and ran out the door.

Bullied out of a laundromat, just another thing to add to Jaune's great accomplishments.

* * *

Jaune was taking inventory when Junior called out. "Jaune, large group. Ten burgers all medium-well."

"Got it," Jaune replied, scrapping the residue off the grill from all the other burgers he had cooked that night, and then putting two nice rows of five burgers on the grill and letting them cook. It might have only been his second night, but Jaune took pride in his work. As simple as the cooking was, he was good at it. He was thankful his mom and sisters had for forced him to learn. Jaune was even considering asking Junior if he could try to add more things to the menu, even the heavy drinkers might like something besides burgers.

Had he mentioned how ninety-five percent of his job was just making burgers yet? Wasn't he supposed to be looking for magical events or something? Could it be a twist were the true magic was the delicious smell of cooking burgers all along? Surly, people would like to read the epic tale of _Beyond the Burger_. It was more original than a high school AU and would probably get more favorites too. Who needed epic action and tense drama when you could just keep talking about the complexities of burger cooking for chapters on end.

Jaune's head hit the counter with a sharp bang. He had gone insane. That was the only explanation. No normal person monologued about the possible success of a burger based story.

Getting himself back together Jaune got the shall-not-be-named-food-items off the grill and ready to serve. Just as he passed the last one out, a red dress wearing girl walked through the door. "You're not Melanie trying to trick me, are you?" Jaune asked, keeping a fair distance away from the girl.

"The day Melanie shares her white dress is the day grimm become domesticated pets," the girl, now assumed to be Miltia, replied tiredly. She slumped off to the side of the kitchen and practically collapsed on a stool.

"Rough night?" Jaune asked, returning to his normal posture.

"You could say that," Miltia yawned. "You might find this surprising but I'm not that big a fan of the drinking and partying, at least not to the extent it goes on here, that's more Melanie's thing. Figured I'd come back here to relax before I have to head back out."

"Why don't you work somewhere else?"

"Same reason as you. There's just not much out there for me."

"I'm sure you could have any life you wanted. Also, I don't like how your assuming that this is the best I'll ever be," he added defensively.

Militia rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say bigshot. There are other reasons I'm not leaving though. My sister and I own Junior a lot, so we can't just leave him. Plus, my sister likes this place, so I don't actually have a choice."

Jaune chucked. "Let me guess you're technically the older sibling."

"How'd you know?"

"I've got a few younger sisters myself. They can be quite demanding."

"You can say that again." The two of them shared a moment of understanding over the plight of being an older sibling until Junior yelled from the bar.

"Jaune!"

"Ooooh, someone's in trouble," Miltia giggled. "I'll let you two sort out your differences." Then, as if it was instant, Miltia was replaced by a very irritated Junior.

"Jaune, how were you supposed to cook that last order of burgers?"

"Um…medium-rare, sir."

"Good," Junior lingered, "so way were half of them well-done!"

"What?" That couldn't be right. Jaune had taken them off the grill at the same time, but Junior showed him, and sure enough, it was overcooked.

"Redo it," Junior huffed, throwing the food item into the garbage can as he walked away.

Jaune rubbed his forehead. He couldn't even make it two days without his boss yelling at him, so much for being good at this job.

He watched the five new patties closely this time making sure they cooked for the exact right amount of time, but when he pulled them off the two on the far right of grill were overcooked again.

What the hell was going on? He checked the grill for problems after firing up two more patties, on the left side, but as far as he could tell everything was working fine. Since he didn't have any other orders, Jaune decided to do some experimenting. Slapping some meat in the center of the grill proved that the right side was definitely hotter than the other.

It was strange what could be—Jaune's thoughts came to a halt. Could it be? Had he actually found it?

After his shift, he raced home and poured over the book picking out anything that mentioned the word fire, hot or heat. It was a long shot, but it was better than anything else he had come across. He spent the next few hours reading and rereading everything on the subject, and eventually he found something that might help.

* * *

The next night he came to club way earlier than he was supposed to. Not even Junior or the twins had arrived yet. That was good, Jaune wanted to be alone for this. He put the book on the bar counter and turned to the page he marked, reading it one more time.

 _Colors are NOT superfluous visual elements that humans use to make pretty pictures and brighten up their dull world. They have meaning! The light spectrum is not an accident it's a templet used as a shorthand by the universe to discern more complex physical patterns. How could we be so stupid? It's so obvious. What reason does dust have to take on a color representing their attribute? Why is fire dust always red and lighting dust always yellow? Because the color is a fundamental part of its structure. If that's the case then it should be possible to create elemental effects by only using colors._

Below that were several mixing tables and color wheels on how to create different color using both additive and subtractive color. Then there were some sloppily made designs that all formed a circular pattern.

 _It's rough, but I've done it. I've demonstrated the ability to produce elemental effects using nothing more than colors and designs based on the markings that vapors and wisps have marked into their bodies. Although it's only a fraction of dust's power, it's a great achievement that will unlock a new type of casting. I call my creations etches, and they will make me a legend. The waves of my research will have impacts that not even I can foresee and all those who mocked me will be cast into the Abyss. There is much more work to be done. I must continue perfecting my etches before someone else discovers the theory._

Jaune shut the book. The passage had certainty been eccentric, but at least the author had given some detail about his discovery. It was only because of his drawings that Jaune would have come to the conclusion that he did. Looking up above the dance floor, there was an array of bright lights. They were off now, but when the club opened they would be bursting red, and it just so happened that those red lights formed a circular design above the dance floor. It was surly only a coincidence, but if the unknown world was as wide as Roman implied, then how often did these coincidences occur with no one being the wiser.

Jaune still didn't know the intricacies of how etches worked, so why this one effected the kitchen and not the dancefloor was a mystery for now, but Jaune remembered seeing etches mentioned a few times throughout the book. The discover had been right when he predicted their impact. Apparently quite a few caretakers utilized and expanded upon them, and since their findings were recorded, Jaune could learn about them, and if he could learn about them then he had found what he was looking for.

Jaune couldn't be happier. He had finally found his starting place. He walked into the kitchen, turned on the grill, and threw two burgers on the grill, one on each side.

As he expected they both cooked at the same time, but when the club got into full swing he did the same thing and this time the burger on the right cooked a little faster. He hadn't really noticed before but that general area always felt a little hotter than the rest of the room. Deciding to capitalize on this new-found knowledge, Jaune pushed the grill to the right until the whole thing was engulfed by the etch's effect.

It was a simple and clumsy setup, but Jaune was now officially using magic. He could now grill burgers faster than normal using no additional energy or effort. Junior should give him a raise for his impossible efficiently.

Sadly, instead of being impressed by Jaune's slightly faster cooking speed, no one seemed to notice.

* * *

Excerpt from the book

 _I have come to a realization that is perhaps of no practical use, but I believe to be of valuable theoretical inquiry. Looking through my predecessors' findings it appears they all divided the world into two distinctive categories, the natural world and the unnatural world. I believe this either-or system to be limiting and not reflective of the true state of things. Instead it would be more beneficial to have three groups: the natural, the unnatural, and the supernatural. I insist on creating this third group because what is unnatural is not always supernatural. For example, human and faunus structures, such as buildings and automobiles, are clearly not produced in the natural world but they aren't thought of as supernatural. Thinking of it this way creates a much more flexible border between the groups opposed to the solid wall imagined before. There is an allowance for intermingling between the groups with the best example of this being the grimm. Grimm share a lot of the characteristics of the entities we interact with, yet they are considered separate from our realm of expertise. As far as I can tell, there is no reason for this besides they're a known quantity to the world at large. The creatures of grimm are certainly supernatural, but because of this prevalence in the eyes of the public they are consider natural. Dust as well breaks through all filters. Just as water can exist in three forms so can dust. The crystallized variant is thought of as the pure, thus the natural, version despite there being no consensus on how dust crystals manifest in nature. The powdered variant is manufactured by humans so it should be considered the unnatural version, though most would probably think of it as natural in the same way they think of their homes as natural. It is the third variant, the type that can be thought of as a gas without mass or form, which I would like to focus on. It is by far the most common and is used to help facilitate and power the use of our spells, but due to its inability to be detected by scientific methods, and thus unknown to the general public, it would be labeled as supernatural despite the fact that is highly likely to be the base from which dust crystals somehow form. In this sense, the only thing dividing the categories is perception. A conclusion that would not sit well with the caretakers who believe there to be some defined lines between the two worlds. I will, however, concede that there is a problem with my theses. The allusive substance known as aura does not agree to being defined by such categories. It's a puzzle that has been recognized long before me. Aura by all definitions is a natural part of all humans and faunus, but in practice, is clearly evident to possess unnatural properties that shouldn't exist in nature as demonstrated by the requirement of aura having to be unlocked by another individual with aura (it is unclear how aura was first unlocked). Aura also gives a user access to a supernatural ability in the form of a semblance. Despite this, aura appears to have to no connection to any part of the supernatural world and displays no special characteristics, outside of its normal effects, when interacting with supernatural forces. Although there are some techniques that can make use of aura, they are very limited and only use aura as a supplementary quality instead of a necessary part. All I can say at this point, is that aura is an abnormally that exist mostly independent from the rest of the world._

* * *

 **An: A minuscule amount of progress has been made, but Jaune has to start somewhere. It wouldn't do if the unknown world was easy to find with massive world-ending demons roaming around. It would raise the question on how the hell people haven't notice it before. That's not to say there wouldn't be some very sufficient happenings later on, but Jaune has to get introduced to this world first.**

 **I've also decided to add an excertp from Jaune's book at the end of the chapter. Let me know what you think about it, and I might continue to add them. I think it adds interesting world building and gives a little extra information to people who want it without having to halt the story.**


	3. Chapter 3

Another day at work cooking burgers on his magical grill. It was a simple pleasure, but it made Jaune happy. It was proof he could do this. He wasn't just wandering around in the dark. He was making progress it was just going very, very slowly. The worst part was that it wasn't due to lack of knowledge or effort. Out of all things that could be holding him back it was his drawing skills.

He had gone over everything he could find about etches in the book, and he learned the basic workings, at least, he thought he did. He didn't have any way to test it at the moment because he literally couldn't draw them. He was practicing by drawing one from the book, but every time he screwed it up. His shaky hands just weren't capable of drawing good circles. It was infuriating. He must have tried drawing a basic etch at least a couple hundred times, but every time his lines would be too wobbly or too out of place for it to work. The only thing he could say was that he was getting better, and he better be since he'd gone through a frankly absurd amount of napkins between orders, which all now littered the floor.

He hoped Junior won't walk in and see them. He didn't know how he could explain that. Also, they were probably a fire hazard, he should clean them up…but after another few attempts. He pulled another napkin out and started marking it with his red pen. Napkins weren't the best to write on, but after doing it for this long Jaune had figured out how much pressure he could use. First was the outer and inner circle, they didn't have any purpose other than to defined the area of the etch. Jaune made them passable. Next, there were the spirals between the outer and inner circle. The direction the spirals pointed determine the direction of the spell. They each had to be facing the same way for a cardinal direction, all inward for the etch itself to be the target area, or all outwards to create a ring around the etch. They were actually the part Jaune had gotten the best at since they didn't have to be too terrible precise. Then there were the sub-circles/ovals that worked back into the outer circle which depending on their size and position determined how far left/right and up/down the spell would go. Jaune was using the etch as the target area so he didn't need those, saved some time while practicing.

The last, and by far most complex part were the inner markers. Basically, they were a bunch of dots, zigzags and curves that actually told the etch what to do. The color decided the element and the marks decided specific effects, but if even one of those stupid marks were wrong or a little off then the whole etch became nothing more than a pretty picture. Jaune still had no idea how the markings actually determined the effect, and the book was only of so much help. The best he could come up with is that they were something like an alphabet and what marks were used and how they were arranged altered the effect, but he didn't have a clue as to what each individual marking meant or why they had that power in the first place. Last time he checked, writing English words didn't cause elements to burst from the page.

Jaune knew he was going to have to memorize them all at some point if he ever wanted to create etches on the spot, but right now it was just baby steps.

Thinking about baby steps, Jaune was almost finished with his latest attempted, and he was feeling pretty good about it. No obvious wiggles or misplacements, just one more stroke and he'd be don—

"Fancy seeing you here, kid." Jaune's red pen tore through the napkin, ruining all his work, as he jumped back in shock.

"Roman what are you doing here!" Jaune said, trying to brush all the crumpled-up napkins out of sight with his foot. "Are you spying on me?"

"Nope, I'm here to talk business with a friend. I just happened to see you when I walked in. I thought you wanted to be a hero not some lowly thug."

"I'm not a criminal! All I do it cook," Jaune defended.

Roman ignored him looking at the torn napkin on the counter. "I see you practicing etches. I'm not a big fan of them myself but…" Roman picked up a napkin and then drew the same sketch Jaune had been working on in only a few seconds. It immediately erupted into flames which proved Roman had done it perfectly.

Jaune wanted to cry, or maybe go back to his apartment and drown himself in the tub. Why was everyone always so much better than him? "Are you just here to mock me?" Jaune said, sadly.

"Hey now, where's the boy who rushed into a fight he knew couldn't win just to try and save some girl. Something like this shouldn't make you all pouty. I've had years of experience while you've only had a week, of course I'm going to be better than you.

"And now you're trying to cheer me up," Jaune said wiping away his sully mood. "You better be careful Roman, I might start to believe you actually care about me."

Roman bent over and laughed. "Keep dreaming. You've still got a long way to go before I considered you a real caretaker. Even meeting you here was a complete accident. I never would have thought that the first thing you do after accepting my offer is run off and become a cook."

"Well, until I discover how to make food out of thin air, I still have to earn money like a good member of society, unlike some people."

"I'll ignore that little jab in favor of informing you that you don't exact work at the most legal establishment. Case in point, I'm here for a meeting with the owner. A meeting you've kept me from, I might add. I'll make sure to inform Junior of his very interruptive kitchen staff."

"You wouldn't dare!" Jaune yelled. The possibly of Junior cutting his pay or firing him because of this was honesty the most terrifying threat that Roman had ever made.

"Relax, kid. I would never let someone like you keep me from a meeting, but before I go I'll give you a freebie." Roman looked into Jaune's eyes with a just enough seriousness that Jaune knew it was important. "You not doing as bad as you think. I know it may seem slow, but trust me, once you move further into this world, you'll be wishing for days like these. Don't rush into things. Enjoy your honeymoon period for as long as you can. I wasn't lying about the third rule."

"I'll keep it in mind," Jaune replied watching Roman leave, having a feeling that this meeting wasn't as accidental as Roman wanted him to believe. Roman didn't seem like the type of guy who went anywhere without knowing what, or who, he was going to find. Still, it wasn't like there was anything Jaune could about it; besides, Roman keeping tabs on him wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Jaune could probably avoid a lot of trouble under Roman's watchful eye. From Roman's perspective Jaune was an investment and despite Roman's apathetic words, it wouldn't do to have an investment flop in the first week.

Jaune got back to work making burgers and practicing etches until he heard a loud crash from the main club area. Sounds like that weren't exactly rare in the club, so Jaune didn't pay it much mind, but then there was another thunderous noise that sounded like an explosion… and yeah that was definitely gunfire.

Jaune rushed out of the kitchen, in retrospect this had not been a good idea, to examine the situation. He was just in time to nearly get hit by a flying fellow employee. The club was a complete mess. Junior's men were laid out everywhere, Roman was strangely absent, and the twins were currently fighting some long blonde-haired girl. Jaune wondered if he should try and help, but then the blonde girl sent Miltia through a glass pillar in a move that definitely would have killed him.

Jaune had always thought of himself as the hero who would stand up to save the girl no matter the risks. He would bravely stand his ground and never give up…but this was a girl fight so he couldn't really pick a side. It would be best for them to settle this without him.

That was his story and he was sticking to it.

Jaune moved slowly back away to the kitchen, as if moving too fast would alert the blonde brawler to his presence, only to bump into Junior. "Hey Boss, how's it going?" Jaune said, taking notice of the rocket launcher Junior had over his shoulder.

"Just where do you think you're going?"

Jaune decided it would be best to throw away his pride. "You can't force me to go out there," Jaune pleaded. "I'll die and it's not like I can do anything to help."

Junior rolled his eyes. "Fine get going, but you're not getting paid for the day."

That almost convinced him to stay, almost.

Jaune ran out the back, book in hand, planning to go back to apartment and pretend that he wasn't a coward. Sadly, the universe had other plans and Jaune ran right into a short red-headed girl. They both tumbled to the ground.

"Ow," Jaune said trying to recover for his daze only to notice his hand grasping something soft and round. He gave the object a little squeeze and it made a strange yelping sound. Jaune looked to see what he was latched onto and saw the red-haired, and now red-faced, girl.

"What do you think you're doing," she screamed, kicking Jaune in the stomach.

For such a small girl, she packed one strong kick, and Jaune was sent rolling across the ground until he got back to his feet. "Hey! I'm the protagonist, so I get at least one pervert scene." Jaune looked down at his hand that just moments ago had been foundling that girl's breast. "I'm a little disappointed, though."

"You take that back!" She yelled holding her arms protectively over her chest. "I'm still growing and—but that's not the point! Do you even know how old I am?"

"Based on past experiences with short girls, twenty-one?"

"I'm fifteen!"

Jaune fell to his hands and knees looking like a man who had lost faith in the world. "No, this can't be happing. I can't go to jail for child molesting. What will my mom think? What will my sisters think!"

"I'm not a child!"

"But you said—"

"I'm not a child!"

"Okay," Jaune said holding his hands out in defeat. "Listen, I think we got off on the wrong foot can we just start over? My name's Jaune Arc."

"Ruby Rose." There was a very long awkward moment of silence. "So…what were you running from?"

"Just a problem at work nothing you should be worried."

"Oh, okay." Another awkward silence.

"Why are you out this late?" Jaune asked just to fill the space.

"I'm looking for my sister. She just up and left me. Can you believe her?" Ruby complain getting more animated as she went.

"What does she look like? Maybe I've seen her," Jaune offered.

"She's about your height with lilac eyes and really long golden hair. She's also a little overbearing and gets in a lot of trouble."

"Nope, haven't seen anyone like that," Jaune lied, "but when you find her do me a favor and don't tell her about me especially about that little accident we had. It's rude to gossip about such intimate moments, you know. "

"That's sounds like what a sexual predator would say to keep their victim quiet."

"You know, I'm just going to leave. It was nice to meet you, but I think it would be best for my safety." A loud explosion came from the club and Jaune caught a glimpse of his boss flying out the window. Yep, it was time to go.

* * *

The club was under repair and would be closed until they were completed. Seeing that Jaune wouldn't be able to cook, and being one of the few staff member who could still move, Junior had given Jaune a new temporary job.

"Oh, Jauneee~" the singsong voice of Melanie called.

"Coming," Jaune responded. Along with the club Junior apparently owned the apartment building right next door where he, the twins, and some of the other employees lived. The rooms were much nicer than his which made him question why he hadn't be offered one.

Jaune enter the twins room where they were both laying in the same king-sized bed, in their pajamas, warped in a few bandages and sporting a few bruises. "What can I do for you," Jaune said giving the girls a polite smile.

"My legs hurt," Melanie whined. "Can you massage them."

It would seem that Jaune had adopted two extra sisters, and they weren't shying away from making their little bro into their person servant. Jaune couldn't really complain, though. It was either take care of them or be out of a job until the club reopened.

He massaged Melanie's legs to the best of his abilities which, judging from her reactions, hadn't been very satisfactory. It didn't deter Miltia from asking for a back massage, however, because why not. Once Jaune was done, they sent him away telling him that they'd call him when they wanted lunch.

Leaving the twins to do their own thing, Jaune walked over to the club where all the staff, who could still move, were working on rebuilding. Today there was only a skeleton crew of mostly people who been off that fateful night.

Junior was sitting on a chair by the bar overlooking the progress. Out of all the people to get hurt that night Junior had taken the biggest beating, yet he had still managed get out of bed and come here which made Jaune wonder just how much the twins were putting it on.

"There you are," Junior said once he saw Jaune. "How are the girls?"

"They're exhausting."

Junior snickered. "I bet. Those two aren't used to not getting what they want. There probably taking their frustration over their loss out on you."

"I'm going to assume you knew that would be the case and neglected to inform me."

"Don't go giving me that look. You're in the best shape out of all of us, you know since you ran away. That means you have to work extra hard to make up for the beating we took for you."

Jaune slumped. "I understand."

"Good. Now go help the others. It's mostly just clean up and removal today. Just look around for the heaviest broken thing you can find and get it out of here. Also, be careful we've already had someone almost die from a falling spotlight."

"Yes, sir." Jaune spent the next couple of hours removing broken chairs and sweeping up shattered glass. The dance floor was completely shot and would need a full replacement. The club was likely going to be out of business for at least a week, probably longer. Jaune never got the full story on why they had been attacked, only snippets for the other employees. Apparently, that girl had been looking for someone, and hadn't been very happy when Junior hadn't known. Jaune didn't think that entitled destroying the place, but Ruby did mention she got into a lot of trouble, so maybe that girl had just come here looking for a fight knowing she wouldn't be reported because of the club's dubious legal standing. With that kind of power and an active temper Jaune dreaded to think what it was like to live with her.

What if she beat Ruby!

It would make senses. It wasn't like she could go trash some place every time she got mad. She had to have some other means of relieving her anger. Ruby hadn't looked hurt when he bumped into her, but Jaune had heard that victims of abuse were good at acting like nothing was wrong. Ruby was so tiny and shy too. A prefect target for an abusive older sibling.

Oh, Oum! Had Jaune ignored a poor sweet girl and sent her back to a broken home with neglecting parents, probably with drug addictions, that didn't care if their older daughter beat the younger one. What if they were in on it? Was Ruby just the family punching bag? Jaune should have stayed with her. He should have taken her back to his place and protected her. It was so obvious that she was only hiding her pain. She must have been screaming for help on the inside.

Damn it! What was wrong with him?

Jaune was nearly hyperventilating as he took another barstool out to the dumpster, letting his imagination run wild with the thoughts of what horrid fate he might have left Ruby to.

Then he stepped on a nail.

The metal stabbed into the sole of his foot right through his shoe. He howled in pain, and brought his leg up, hopping on the other. Water welled in his eyes as his thoughts refocused to his own horrid fate. Forget about what's-her-face, Jaune had a nail in his foot!

He swore he could hear something laughing at him as he continued to hop around trying to find somewhere to sit. Eventually, he just sat on top of the dumpster to examine his foot. He couldn't see much since his shoe was in the way, being nailed to his foot, but it didn't seem like the nail had gone that deep. Steadying his breathing, Jaune grabbed the head of the nail and in one quick pull, tore it from his foot and shoe. That was a lot of pain and some tears, but that's all he going to say.

Jaune collapsed in his bed, later that night, foot bandaged and muscles sore from all the stuff he lifted and fulfilling the Malachits' whims, they had been unsympathetic to his plight. Today had been a disaster, not just because of his incident, but a number of other accidents that had occurred. Jaune just wanted to sleep and dream of a better tomorrow.

* * *

The next day started with Jaune and Junior running towards the twins' room as either Miltia's or Melanie's hysterical screams reverberated down the hallway. Junior looked ready to murder, and if his weapon hadn't been broken, he would have had it deployed.

Junior pushed open the door with so much force the wall rattled, but instead of finding the girls in any danger, they found Melanie fighting a different kind battle. "Would you idiots stop standing there and help me!" Water was spraying from the faucet of the bathtub soaking everything nearby. Jaune and Junior rushed to help Melanie seal the stream, but the water refused to be contained. Miltia was in the other room laughing at them and overall being of no help.

"How did this happen?" Junior asked, getting a mouthful of high pressure water in the process.

"I don't know," Melanie cried. "I just wanted to take a bath but when I started to run the water, the facet exploded."

"Exploded!" Jaune yelled.

"It's the truth!"

Junior growled in annoyance.

The problem was eventually given a temporary fix with Junior leaving to cut the water off leaving Jaune to watch Melanie cry into her sister's chest. For such a strong girl, she sure got emotional quickly. To be fair, Jaune couldn't blame her all that much. She was soaking wet from head to toe, the bathroom was a mess, their room was slightly flooded and, probably the most damaging, Melanie had suffered a second defeat. Her pride must have taken a heavy blow.

Jaune left them alone having learned from his sisters to never get involved in these sorts of things. He went back to club and continue working on the repairs. Sadly, any hopes of a better day were quickly squashed as accident after accident occurred. Progress had to be halted more than once to address entire missing toolsets, machinery breaking or things falling on people. The accidents finally hit a climax when a stack of plywood mysterious caught on fire. There was a mad scramble to get a fire extinguisher only to find it had been misplaced. It was eventually found under some bags of supplies, but by that time, it was too late to save the plywood.

It was at this point that the staff started to believe they were cursed. Junior tried to dismiss this nonsense, but even he couldn't deny all the strange incidents. It was then that Jaune realized that a curse, or some other type of magical power, wasn't out of the question. After all, hadn't Jaune already found one magical element to this club, how hard was it to believe that there may be another.

Jaune spent the rest of the day keening observing the work trying to see if there was any direct connection between any of the accidents, and there were plenty more to observers, but he never found anything concrete. A couple of times, he could have sworn he had seen some shadowy mass leaving the scene of the crime but that was it.

When Jaune got home that night, he contemplated on what to do. There was obvious something unnatural happing at the club, but Jaune didn't know how to handle it. The book wouldn't help since the only thing he knew was that something was causing unnatural accidents, but that trait encompassed pretty much everything in the book. He could just do nothing, but there was no telling how far these "accidents" would go. Someone might get seriously hurt or even killed.

Jaune cupped his head in his hands. Why did everything have to be so complicated? Huntsmen had it easy they just had to run up and kill the grimm. Jaune set his sights to Crocea Mors, which was laying on his dresser.

Actually, who said he couldn't just run up and kill it.

He picked up Crocea Mors and unsheathed it. It shined as bright as ever. He had planned to use this sword to become a hero, but he had hardly touch it, leaving it in his room to collect dust. It was sad. This sword had been passed down the Arc line to protect people not to sit neglected like some old relic. What had Jaune even taken it for if he wasn't going to use it?

That changed tonight.

* * *

Normally, at this time of night, the club would have been in full swing, but with the repairs having to happen during the day, the place was completely empty. Jaune could hear every breath he took as he walked around with his sword in one hand and his scroll, acting as a flashlight since he didn't know how to turn the club's lights on, in the other. He had thought about bringing the book as well, but Jaune didn't think he would be getting the time to read up on his opponent in the middle of a fight. He didn't even know if there was an opponent to be found. For all he knew, this really could be akin to a curse, and a sword wouldn't really do much to dispel it. If that was the case, he was going to have to call Roman, but until then, he was going with the perfectly sane option of trying it on his own. Surly nothing could go wrong. He was only dealing with something mysterious and unnatural with nothing to go on.

Jaune walked around stacks of supplies and boxes looking for anything off about the club. He didn't like how quiet it was, it reminded him of a horror movie right before the monster jumped out. The echo of his footstep, the way his scroll's light played with the shadows and the general air of uneasiness all contributed.

Jaune observed every corner of the place, but he couldn't find a thing. It wasn't until he passed another stack of boxes that something happened. Without warning, the stack suddenly toppled onto him. He managed to avoid them, swinging his scroll widely trying to find the cause, but nothing revealed itself although he definitely heard something skitter away.

At least, he knew that whatever it was had a physical form.

Jaune roamed the club again, but this thing was much better at hide-and-seek than him. It was like it had just vanished, which it very well might have. There was no telling what this thing was capable of.

The night moved slowly as Jaune continued his search. There were no other attacks after the initial incident, and that made him worry. Jaune walked into the back kitchen where, despite the blinking red eyes of the equipment, he felt more at home. He knew every inch of this place having had lots of time to screw around between orders. He trended less cautiously around his domain. He gave the place a once over, admiring how well he kept it. Everything had its place and he made sure to put it back in that place, so that's why he immediately noticed the knife missing from the rack even if he barley used them. Worrying, it was the long sharp one used for boning.

Not even a second after having that thought, Jaune felt a sharp pain cut across the back of his thigh. He nearly dropped to his knees but managed to push through it and twist his body to deliver a downward thrust with his sword. He didn't hit anything, but he caught a glimpse of the kitchen door swinging shut. Running as fast as his injured leg would allow him, he busted out of the kitchen only to step on another nail.

This time he did drop to his knees, hitting the club floor as an inch of metal slid into his foot. It hurt worse than the first time, but his adrenaline was doing a little to numb the pain. Without hesitation, Jaune pulled the nail out, uttering a curse as pain shot through his foot. He could hear the same laughter that had mocked him the first time. It wasn't enough to pinpoint his assailant's location, however.

Having just experienced the consequences of rushing in without thinking, Jaune hobbled over to the bar and got the first aid kit Junior always had under it. He kept an eye out as he patched himself up, holding in tears as he did, but the creature didn't make any moves. Jaune had thought that being a caretaker was going to be something like being a more specialized huntsman.

That had been wrong.

From what little huntsman training and wisdom, he had picked up from his dad, he knew that huntsman and huntress were expected to have power and endurance to fight against the never-ending hordes of grimm. Grimm were mindless, so there wasn't a real requirement for huntsmen to be overly technical or cunning, although some certainly were. Plans and strategies just weren't as important when your foe couldn't come up with their own. As long as you could kill lots of grimm quickly and consistently that's all you really needed.

But, this was different. Jaune wasn't facing a mindless grimm who would charge him at first sight. His foe was much smarter than that, and he had paid for it. Wandering around aimless, hoping to stumble upon his target wasn't going to cut it.

Jaune had to think, really think about this. He took a deep breath, feeling the pain in his leg subside slightly. First, what did he know or could assume about his opponent? It didn't seem confident enough to face him head-on, judging from its hit-and-run tactics, so it probably wasn't that physical strong. It also seemed more interested in causing distress and pain than outright killing since if it was good enough to sabotage the Malachite's bath without being notice, it definitely could have killed them. It was fast, good at hiding and patient enough to wait him out. It was like a naughty kid taking its pranks too far.

Somehow Jaune needed to lure it out into the open. He looked around the club for any ideas when his eyes landed on the stack of boxes that had toppled over him.

That might work.

Jaune walked over to the overturn boxes, making sure to drawn attention to his limp, and started stacking them back up. Junior wouldn't be happy if he came back in the morning and saw all his stuff littering the floor. It would be best to put them back where they were.

Once he placed the last box, he took a step back to admire his work, and just as he expected, it started to tip. Looks like his foe just couldn't resist. Instead of moving away from the toppling tower, Jaune leapt into it, preemptively swinging his sword, and came out the other side.

For the first time, Jaune got to see the monster he was fighting. It was smaller than him by a significant amount and it entire body was a uniform grey, but the strangest part was how it was shaped. No natural creature could have evolved with that type of body. It was shaped like a toy top without the handle. It wobbled on it axis like it never quite had the right balance. The most shocking feature was its four arms, almost as long as it was tall, protruding for each side with ten finger on each, one of which was holding the knife it had stolen from the kitchen.

It didn't seem to have any facial features, so it was hard to tell what it was thinking, but from the way its wobble became much more unsteady, Jaune would say he surprised. It quickly brought the knife up to catch Jaune's sword, but Jaune was able to push it down with relative ease.

The creature only made the barest of attempts to push back before it dropped the knife and started spinning away. "No, you don't," Jaune said running after the overgrown children's toy.

It was fast, but not fast enough to leave Jaune's sight. The creature seemed to realize that it wouldn't be able to escape on speed alone, so with all four of its hands it started throwing nails, laughing as it did. Where the creature had kept them, or how he produced that taunting sound without a mouth, was a mystery to Jaune, but he was able to deploy his shield and avoid any more metal logging itself into his body.

The creature stopped laughing at that point probably realizing it was in some actual trouble. Its movement become increasing unstable slowing it down enough to were Jaune was gaining ground. Noticing this, the top only grew more unstable in way that Jaune might have call panic. Jaune closed the distance and swung his sword overhead. The creature brought up its elongated arms to try and catch it, but Jaune's sword sliced right through them reaching the main body and splitting the top in two.

Jaune had to lean on his sword to catch his breath as he looked at his first successful kill. It hadn't made a sound when it had died and for that Jaune was grateful. He didn't' know how he would feel if his first kill had shown too much emotion. As it was, it felt like he killed something close to a robot. He was proud of himself. It might have been more like playing a deadly game of tag than an actual fight, but he had done it. He had vanquished the monster and saved the club!

The twins should give their knight a reward kiss.

Those thoughts occupied his mind as he walked home. When he got there, he opened the book and started searching for the creature he had just fought. It was much easier now that he had seen it, and he quickly found an entry next to a picture that resembled it.

 _Misfits are pesky little buggers. Similar to grimm they are associated with negative emotions, practically intense but brief periods of violence. Unlike grimm, however, they spawn directly on the source of the event and don't exist outside of these instances making them impossible to contain or track. The best way to deal with them is to kill them immediately when they appear and are still confused about their surroundings. If a misfit survives its initial creation then it becomes a hassle. They have an uncanny ability to stay out of human sight and are intelligent enough to use their environment to their advance. As their name implies they mostly only deal in pranks and mischief, the severity of these action depending on the severity of the inciting indecent. However, even the most dangerous misfits, ones that are willing to kill, don't pose a very large threat. While they are intelligent to some degree, they appear to lack common scenes and frequently fall apart if there's even a slight problem with their initial plan. The easiest way to deal with misfits is to set traps of your own, and more often than not, misfits will walk into them either from curiosity or boredom. While technically classified as a minor demon, it's hard to really consider them as one since they are so much weaker and underdeveloped than their closest cousins. They are so pathetic, in fact, that It is not at all uncommon for a hunting dog to sniff them out and kill them without their owner ever noticing._

Jaune didn't feel so proud anymore. Misfits were apparently the trash mob of the unknown world, and yet Jaune had taken a pretty decent amount of damage fighting one, and to think, he had originally planned on fighting grimm. He would have been killed on the first encounter.

Jaune collapsed in his bed which was, worryingly, becoming a normal occurrence. If he wanted to continue this career path, he was going to need some serious help.

* * *

Excerpt from the book

 _The Tactillan symbols could be likened to an alien language (and has been mistaken as ancient script by some archeologist), but in their known affliction it's would be nigh impossible to argue for them being anything of the sorts. For one, the Tactillan symbols have no verbal pronunciation (besides those of which us humans have given them for distinguishing purposes). They act more as a signal receiver than anything else. What is transmitting the signal is up to numerous theories. It could be an archangel/archdemon, or an entity existing beyond the confines of Remnant, some even say the symbols are built into the universe itself and are as natural as photosynthesis. The discovery of these symbols come from many different sources of creatures (primarily divine class) and some of the more intelligent creatures have demonstrated the ability to use these symbols just as humans do._

 _They're 13 known symbols, each with one or more alternate forms similar to how the English alphabet has upper and lower case letters. These variants only slightly alter the message they receive, but oddly enough some of these variants, and one symbol in its entirety, causes no effects which begs the question on why they exist at all. There is a theory that these symbols produce effects outside our plane of existence but this has yet to be confirmed._

* * *

 **An: Jaune has gone toe-to-toe with the unknown world and it went as about as well as can be expected. This is what I consider to be the end of the introduction arc, so let me know what you think so far. I read every review and take them all into consideration.**

 **Next chapter will hopefully start the arc that will be a better example of how I plan to write this story with more long-term issues that Jaune has to investigate and figure out before he reaches the solution or conflict.**

 **That being said, it might get a little tiring if most of the story is Jaune's inner thought process. Maybe next chapter Jaune will find an emerald to help him out.**


	4. Chapter 4

**An: I asked for your guys' thoughts last chapter, and from the responses it looks like not many people were fans of the fourth wall breaks. I thought they would be funny and add a little more mystery to the caretakers like they knew way more than they should, but it seems that was a mistake. I'll refrain for doing them from now on.**

 **I also had a few reviews accusing me of bashing Jaune, mostly because of his fight with the misfit. I would like to make it clear that it is not my intention to bash Jaune, it would be weird to make an entire story around him if I did. The purpose of that fight was to show how different things were in this new profession. Jaune isn't any weaker than he is in canon, he was able to kill the misfit in one hit, the problem was getting to it in the first place. That was the problem he had to overcome, not the fight itself.**

* * *

It had taken many sleepless night, but Jaune had done it. Held in his hands was a thick pocket journal with everything of note from Roman's book transcript within. No longer would Jaune have to search through that mess of pages, he had painstakingly organized everything with tabs poking out the side, glorious and easy to use tabs. The content inside may still mostly be a mystery, but now those concepts fit into nice little categorizes that could easy be picked out when the need arose. There was even enough room for him to add his own notes. This would be as big a step for him as the CCT towers were for civilization.

Jaune rubbed his fingers over the cover of his masterpiece. It was an unassuming thing covered in brown leather with only a small symbol of an apple that had a bite taken out of it in the bottom right hand corner. Jaune had asked about it when he had got it from the thrift store, but the shopkeeper was just as clueless, saying it was probably just some company logo. It didn't really matter. He was just happy he was able to find something that could hold a lot of information but still fit into his back pocket. It was thick and a little awkward to push in and out but it fit.

Jaune wandered to his window and looked outside. It was still the same horrid view, but for some reason, it seemed so much nicer today. The club was nearly done, and soon Jaune would be able to go back to his regular job. It was a nice feeling for things to finally be looking up.

On his bed, his scroll started ringing. He walked over to see who it was, and saw It was his mother. Jaune almost declined on instinct but stopped himself. She was just worried about him. Maybe it was time to talk to her.

He answered the phone. "Jaune Miles Arc! Do you know what I've been going through!"

Yep, she was pissed. "Hi mom, how's your day been?"

"Don't you 'hi mom' me young man! I've been worried sick. You just disappear one day and the only thing we hear back from you is one lousy text saying you're fine. I swear, if it wasn't for you father, I would have filed a missing person report and spanked you in front of the cops that brought you back. You could have been dead and some crazy person could have been using your phone for all I knew, and what about your sisters do you know what they've gone through? Not a day passes without one of them asking what happened to you!"

"I'm sorry."

"You're going to be a lot more than sorry! When you get back here, you're going to be drowning in chores, all under my watchful eye."

"I'm not coming back," Jaune said.

The line went quiet, and Jaune could practically feel the frustration building on the other end, but it all went away in one deep sigh. "You father did say you wouldn't come home so easily, not after you took Crocea Mors. I just didn't want to believe it." Jaune felt terrible hearing his mother sound so defeated.

"I'm sorry," he said again, "but I'm only sorry for how I left, not why I left."

That was another long sigh. "I'm not going to say what you did was okay or that I understand, but you father did try to explain it. You tried to get into Beacon, right?"

"Yeah."

"How did that go?"

"I got rejected."

"Are you surprised by that? Jaune, you're not a huntsman. You don't have any training."

"That's not my fault!" Jaune barked. "How many times did I ask dad to teach me, and how many times did he say no?"

"He wanted to keep you—keep all of us—safe."

"I don't see how _not_ teaching me how to defend myself makes me safer."

"That's a talk you're going to have to take up with him."

"I guess it is." There was a long pause where he took the time to cool off, and his mom waited for him to do so. Even with seven other children, she always seemed to know the best way to handle each of them when they got angry or upset. She must have gone through the motions a thousand times at this point. "I understand what I did wasn't right, and it wasn't fair to any of you, but I'm not coming home."

"Why not? You said it yourself, you didn't get into Beacon. If you're worried about coming home after what you did, don't be. I won't actually drown you in chores, probably."

Jaune couldn't help but chuckle. "I much as that thought terrifies me, that's not the reason. I can't really explain it, but let's just say, I found a substitutive for Beacon. It's not what I envisioned myself doing, and truthfully, I'm not very good at it yet, but I came to Vale to be the person I've always wanted to be. I want you all to be proud of me, but most importantly I want to be proud of myself."

"Men and their stupid pride. Why does your glory have to rest on everyone else's worry? Can't you just be happy with who you are now?"

"Sorry, but the males of the Arc family don't seem capable of living in the everyday world."

"So, there's really no way I convince you to come back?"

"Afraid not."

"Ugh, I hate it when your father's right especially about you kids. Fine, I don't like it but you're seventeen, officially an adult now, so I can't force you even if I know whatever you've gotten yourself into is probably really stupid and dangerous. Just promise you mother you'll be careful."

"I promise I'll _try_ to be careful."

"Yep, definitely you're father's son. He used to say the same thing to me before going off on missions, back in the day."

"What can I say, as the only other male in the house, I took a lot from him."

"Then maybe you'll remember this little line he has 'don't go looking for something new if you've don't want to lose what you've already found.' There's a lot of people in this world that find their dreams turning into nightmares. I don't want you to end up one of them."

"Doesn't he also say that 'the things you fight for are the only things worth having?'"

"That's hardly his wisdom. That's a crappy pick-up line he once used on me. I honestly wish you forgot about that type of knowledge."

"Hey, it worked in the end, didn't it?"

"On the list of reasons on why I married you father his pick-up lines are near the bottom, right next to him constantly leaning on my head like I'm a living elbow rest, but yes, it did work in the end."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Jaune."

"Say 'hi' to the girls for me."

"You should do that yourself. It's not like you don't have your sisters' numbers."

"I'll think about it, goodbye." Jaune hung up the phone and sat down on his bed.

It had been nice talking to his mom. She had been surprising understanding about the whole thing. He wondered what his dad had told her. It was weird, his dad had always been the one most against Jaune wanting to be a huntsman, despite being one himself, but now that Jaune had gone and run away, he seemed to be the only one not trying to get him back. What had changed?

Jaune looked over at Crocea Mors—the sword he stole. Nearly every one of his dreams had featured that sword. To Jaune it had always been inevitable that he would hold that sword. That one day his dad would see that he was serious about his dream and recognize his potential, but years went by and he never got any closer to wielding Crocea Mors.

Jaune looked at his hands. He didn't like to admit it but Crocea Mors didn't feel quite right. It wasn't his sword, after all. It was his dad's, he was just the thief who stole it. Why had his dad not demanded his weapon back? Why was he letting him chase his dream after denying him for so long?

Jaune grabbed Crocea Mors and examined the blade as if it had all the answers. This blade had so much history behind it. It had been in the Arc family for as long as anyone could remember, yet it didn't show any signs of aging. What had his dad thought of this blade when his father passed it down to him?

It only now occurred to Jaune that he had never asked his farther why he became a huntsman.

Jaune put the sword back and got up from his bed. It didn't really matter what Crocea Mors' pervious wielders had wanted. It might not be his sword, but it was in his possession, so it served his whims. Jaune hadn't taken it out of spite, he had taken it to prove himself. Whether his dad approved or disapproved was a null point. This was his goal, and he was going to make it work.

With a renewed vigor, Jaune grabbed a newspaper off his dresser. Yes, an actual physical newspaper. After being inducted into this new world, Jaune had taken it upon himself to stay more informed. His first two encounters had happened on him, but he couldn't rely on his luck forever. The internet had been his first choice for research, but the web was focused on more global issues, so Jaune had switched over to the old local newspaper. He was probably the only person under fifty to read them, but newspapers were a lot easier to shift through, and had stories that didn't make their way into the web search bar. Jaune would also be lying if he said he didn't learn a bunch of new things about Vale in general.

The paper always had a bunch of ads, and most of the news related section was talking about Beacon's newest graduates and how they were keeping humanity safe now that they were actual huntsmen and huntresses. There was also some speculation about the incoming students. Rumors that both Weiss Schnee and Pyrrha Nikos were choosing to attend Beacon rather than their home academies were front page. Jaune felt a tinge of sadness as he read that, but he quickly moved passed it. He had a new path now.

There was one story that caught Jaune's eye. It was a small story barely talking up one-eightieth of a page, but it might be just the story he was looking for. It was about a school playground going missing. It was certainly weird, but police thought someone might have dismantled it in the middle of the night to sell for scrap mental. It wouldn't be the strangest thing people have done.

Jaune wasn't so sure. This seemed like just the type of thing that could have a supernatural cause. He didn't have any other leads, so he might as well give it a shot. The worst that could happen is he's wrong.

* * *

Jaune was aware how suspicious he looked climbing over the fence of a middle school wearing a black Pumpkin Pete hoodie and an old beat-up backpack that he had owned for years, which had also been his luggage when he came to Vale. Add the sword strapped to his waist, and he wouldn't be convincing anyone of his innocence.

He hopped down on the other side of the fence and wandered over to where the playground should have been, but all that was left was a large tub of wood chips. He dropped his backpack on the ground and dug out a piece of cardboard along with a light blue chalk stick. It was time to see if all his practicing with etches had paid off. He laid the cardboard on the ground and started drawing his etch. He had switched to chalk instead of pens and markers for two reason. The first being that it was easier to make bigger etches, and he could erase a section if he messed up instead of redoing the whole etch. The second was that chalk could be used on other surfaces besides paper like concrete or stone, something Jaune might need if he had to draw an etch in a pinch. If he was more confidence in his abilities, he might have been able to draw on the woodchips themselves, but on the cardboard, he was able to do it on the first attempt, although he still needed to use a reference.

The etch glowed slightly before a ring of fog formed around the playground. It wasn't great cover and if anyone decided to investigate the isolated instance of fog they would quickly find him, but it was better than being out in the open, and it was unlikely any passerby would notice the strange occurrence.

Jaune examined the etch seeing the chalk outline starting to fade slightly. He probably had about 20 minutes before the etch completely disappeared along with his cover. He could make another one if he needed to so it wasn't a hard limit, but Jaune had discovered that repeating an etch right after using one, in the same area, gave significantly dismissed returns. Jaune's theory was that the gas-like dust particles the etch needed to create its effect was acting as fuel for the etch and needed to replenish itself before it could be used in full again. It also would explain why the longevity of any continuous etch was completely random. Some areas were just denser with dust than others.

Apparently, there were whole fields entirely dedicated to studying the so called "dust cloud" that covered all of Remnant, but all Jaune knew was that it made his etches work, and that was good enough for now.

Getting back into why he was here, Jaune examined the empty playground. He could easily imagine were the metallic monkey bars and plastic slide had been from the small areas that showed were supports had dug into the ground. Jaune examined these spots closer. They were almost all perfectly circular or rectangular areas that lacked any woodchips. Jaune wasn't an expert, but even he knew that if the human had removed the playground they would have accidently kicked at least some chips into the now unoccupied space as they dismantled the thing piece by piece. From what Jaune was seeing, it seemed like the whole structure had been taken all at once without disturbing anything else.

It was looking like Jaune hadn't been chasing a dead lead. He had actually been a little afraid that he was becoming too paranoid. After his encounter with the misfit, there had been a few days where he couldn't even stub his toe without looking around for one. Still, even if he was fairly certain there was a supernatural cause that didn't tell him what it was or how to fix it.

Jaune continued his investigation, but the problem with disappearances was there was nothing to investigate. Even his new beautifully organized pocket journal wasn't of much help because, just like with the misfit, disappearance was too board a term. The playground could have been levitated away by another caretaker, vaporized by a sight seeker, warped to the other side of remnant, or any number of other things.

Knowing he didn't have the means or the time to test any of his speculations, and not wanting to have another burger flipping epiphany, Jaune decided to use his first call to Roman.

* * *

"You're going to need a transdimensional plate."

"A trans—what?"

"A transdimensional plate," Roman repeated. "Your little playground got swallowed by the Abyss. It's the only thing that could have caused this without leaving a trance. The Abyss is another dimensional layer that's constantly gobbling things up from this layer. Think about all the things you've lost over your life that you were never able to find again. A large portion of those items were likely caused by you being dumb and irresponsible, but it possible that some were lost to the Abyss. Normally smaller and more mundane items fall into the Abyss, but every so often it takes something more public."

"Why does it do that?"

"The answer would cost you another phone call, but I wouldn't worry about the what or why. All you need to know is that it did, and you're going to need a transdimensional plate to fix it."

"Am I going to have to go into the Abyss and get the playground out myself?" Jaune asked not very fond of the idea of dimension hopping.

"No, the Abyss isn't a place meant for humans, or anything else born in this world for that matter. The transdimensional plate couldn't take a living being to the Abyss on its own, anyways. All you need to do is get the thing, go back to where the playground was, and use it. The abyss will be forced to cough the playground back up if you do."

"Got it, so where can I find one?"

"You're in luck because it just so happens that Vale's Ancient Civilization Museum has one on display right now."

"But, how am I actually supposed to get it?"

"Take some inspiration from me," Roman said before cutting the call.

* * *

 _Yeah, real funny, Roman. As if I could do what you do,_ Jaune thought as he stood in front of a glass display inside Vale's Ancient Civilization Museum, sometime later. He had actually been here once before on his first round of trying to find supernatural objects or events. He could even remember walking right through this particular exhibit. Never would he have guess that the little thing in front of him could have contained any abilities, though.

It was a wooden rod stuck through four CD-like disks. On one end of the rod there was an extrusion that keep the disk from falling off while the other ended in a hemisphere that would have allowed the disks to be removed and put back on. The bottom disk was completely transparent. The one above that was black, so dark that it seemed to swallow all the light around it. Second from the top was a plan grey disk that looked to be made from clay, and at the very top was a pure white disk that seemed to shimmer slightly.

The plague below the object had a brief description.

 _Recovered from the outskirts of the ruined city_ _Cryphilictal_ _. Dating back to before any of the four kingdoms were founded, this artifact is in remarkable condition. Although its exact purpose remains unknown, it's believed to be a children's toy, perhaps to teach them about patterns or light reflection._

Cryphilictal sounded familiar. Jaune was sure that some of the entries in the book had reference the city. He skimmed his journal and soon enough he found a mention of it. There wasn't much. The writer only talked of it in passing as a possible connection to the Biling Sea, whatever that was. All Jaune knew was it wouldn't be helping him get the transdimensional plate.

That was the crux of the issues, though. The tool he needed was under a locked box and guarded by twenty-four-hour security. Jaune wasn't a criminal, magic powers or not, he didn't have a chance of taking it without anyone noticing. Putting the morality of stealing a probably priceless artifact from a museum aside, Jaune wouldn't even know where to begin. Was the room trapped with invisible lasers at night like in the movies. How thick was the glass? Would an alarm go off him he tried to smash it? How would he even get into the museum in the first place? Could he hide out somewhere and wait for the museum to close?

Far too many question and far too many risks.

As much as Jaune didn't want to, because it would mean wasting a call to Roman, he might just have to abandon this job. The only thing at stake was a children's playground. It wasn't worth going to jail over.

He reluctantly left the museum, frustrated that he still lacked the skills to do much of anything. Roman, or even Junior, could have gotten that thing easily, but Jaune was still just a novice with the only thing to his name being a sword he barely knew how to use and some pretty, magical designs.

* * *

Junior had given him a call, later that day, offering a side job to earn a little extra money. When he arrived at the night club, Junior was waiting for him. It wasn't a difficult job, just a delivery to another shop. Anyone could have done it, but Jaune wasn't doing anything so it might as well be him.

Junior gave him a plain white envelope, told him not to open it, and gave him the address. Jaune made his way to his destination, which was still in the shady part of town, but much less rundown and had more foot traffic than the area he operated in.

The address took him to a small hole-in-the-wall junk shop. What Junior could want from this place was beyond him, but he wasn't about to question Junior's motives. What the boss said goes, even Jaune, as the measly cook, knew that.

A bell chimed as the door open, but Jaune hadn't been the one to do it. A girl walked out of the store and accidentally bumped into him. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

"It's no big deal," Jaune assured, "I shouldn't have been standing in front of the entrance like that."

The girl gave him a cute simile, making Jaune blush slightly, before giggling and heading off. Jaune found himself watching her until she turned a corner, but quickly shook those thoughts out of his head. He was here to work, and besides, perving on every girl he saw made him feel like a creep. He needed to get his own life in order before thinking about entering a relationship.

The inside of the shop was exactly like how he imagined. It was cluttered with all sort of things stacked from floor to ceiling with small pathways dugout between the somewhat differentiated groups of items. The air had this dusty feel and smell to it like he had just entered a long-forgotten room.

Jaune had to squeeze through the walkways to get to the counter, which was unhelpfully on the far side of the store. It was just as cluttered as the rest of the store with a bunch of miniature statues looking out at him. The man behind the counter was going bald and had on a pair of glasses that seemed to have slid too far down his nose to be useful. His eyes themselves were half shut giving him a very tried look and made it very difficult to pick out any emotions. If it wasn't for the slight rise and fall of his shoulder Jaune might have mistaken him for a wax figure.

"Hello, I'm here to make a delivery," Jaune said, holding out the envelope. The only indication that the man had heard him was the slight shift of his pupils towards Jaune's face. "Um…it's from junior." The clerk took the envelope from him and roughly opened it to reveal the letter. His pupils never left Jaune's face, but the clerk must have somehow been reading the letter because after a minute he put it in his pocket and walked through a door to the back.

"So, are you getting something for me, or should I just go?" He asked the empty space. Unsurprisingly, there was no response. Jaune slumped his shoulders and sighed. Today was turning out great.

Jaune waited by the counter for a few minutes before getting bored and wandering off to explore the store. There were some interesting things in the form of fancy antiquities and odd half-working contraptions, but nothing Jaune could see anyone actually purchasing. It was like a tourist shop with novity items that were fun to take pictures of and tell your friends about, but you'd never use it anywhere else.

Jaune found a deck of tarot cards on one of the selves. They didn't look anything like the one's Roman had and they felt filmily. He put them back. The next thing he picked up was a rectangular wooden box that had some illegible cursive craved into the top. When he opened it, he discovered it was a music box with a human female and a faunus male holding hands as they spun on a pestle. Jaune had never heard the song that was playing, but it sounded like a lullaby. He quickly shut it feeling the music taking effect.

He briefly wondered if it was more than just the lullaby and the box was enchanted to make him drowsy, but he dismissed that thought. Just because something was old didn't mean it was supernatural. Everyone who entered this shop would walk away a caretaker if that were the case. That said, this shop was too cluttered with odd items for there not to be at least some mythical things. Jaune wasn't willing to dig through the whole store to find them, however.

He entered the book section where there was a big bin off to one side with a sigh saying "free" written in big red letters taped to the side. Jaune picked one out just to see what books could be so bad that the owner was forced to give them away.

 _The Extraordinary Tales and Telling's of Peter Port,_

 _Vol. VI: The First Expedition into the Grimmlands,_

 _Part 2: The Huntsman, The Grimm and The Girl!_

Jaune put the book back feeling his sanity slip just from holding it. What kind of person had the time, or the ego, to publishes their entire life? On second thought, it would probably be best not to know.

Jaune left the book aisle, feeling the need to put as much distance between him and that bin as possible which lead him to the back wall of the store. About a dozen or so paintings were hung on the wall each with their own price tag. One was depicting a tea party with a young girl, a rabbit and a man with a very large top hat. Another was an empty, rainy road with only a single streetlight on. The lamppost was bent so the beam of light actually shot up into a second story window revealing a human-like silhouette. There was also a landscape painting of a lake full of fire with a red rock coast leading to a town of pointed house made from bone, but among all the strange pictures, there was one that caught Jaune's attention above all else.

It wasn't framed like the other. It was painted on a tapestry that had definitely seen better days. The pigment, however, was still bright and clear as day. There were four girls, each painted in a single color: blue, purple, orange and green. They sat in a circle, holding hands, around a small campfire that lit up the center as dark grimm-shaped shadows creeped in from the surrounding forest. The girls looked unafraid as they all looked up to a bright, unbroken, moon. The moon cast a sliver light over the sky and sometimes cut through the pitch-black shadows.

It was beautiful. Jaune couldn't take his eyes off it, but there was something unnerving about it. While the girls didn't look afraid, they didn't look happy. If anything, they seemed to be in reluctant acceptance like whatever was happing couldn't be avoid. Jaune had no way to know for sure, but he felt, that those girls would be dead if this painting progressed in time. It wouldn't be the surround grimm, though. No, it would something far more destructive and grotesques. An entity whose existence was just out of sight, but whose presence radiate throughout the picture and swept into the room like a suffocating fog.

 _A total of three, but they forgot about me._

Something grabbed Jaune's shoulder and suddenly the otherworldly pressure of the painting disappeared like it was never there. The fate of the four girls was no longer apparent. The image of irreversible change and otherworldly forces were gone, lost to the outer edges of the tapestry, and no matter how hard Jaune tried, he couldn't bring it back.

The grip on his shoulder tightened, and Jaune turned to see the shopkeeper behind him. He handed Jaune a brown paper bag, and returned to the counter without a word. "Do I need to pay for this, or dose Junior have like a tab?" No response. "Would it kill you to say something?"

"If you're not here to buy something, get out."

Jaune slumped forward, taking one last look at the tapestry before walking out. He refused to believe that he had just imagined those feelings. There was something wrong about that painting. Maybe his journal could tell him something.

Jaune reached into his back pocket only to find air. He checked his other pocket just to make sure he hadn't accidently switched it, but that pocket was empty too. Jaune went pale. His journal was missing!

Alright think, when was the last time he knew he had it? It was when Junior had given him the letter. He specifically remembered that he tried to put the enveloped in his back pocket only to realize his journal was now occupying that space. After that, he had gone straight to the store. He had gone at a leisurely pace, so there was no way it fell out. The only time he even stumbled was when he bumped into that person leaving the store.

The reality hit Jaune hard, and he sprinted down the sidewalk.

* * *

Emerald Sustrai was kicking herself. What had been such an easy target had turned out to be a complete bust. Instead of grabbing his wallet, she had taken his stupid dairy. Emerald knocked a trashcan down in frustration. Looks like it would be another night without food. Even as a master pickpocket, emerald was finding It hard to survive on the streets. People just didn't carry as much lien on them as they used to, all preferring to carry around plastic cards that could be cancel at moment's notice. That along with that bastard Roman taking all the big heists and throwing the police into overdrive while doing so, made Emerald's life especially miserable as of late.

She would have left Vale if she could afford it, but the problem with hot money was you had to spend it quickly. If she had a place to hide it, it would be a different story, but every time she tried the vultures, who spied on other criminals because they couldn't do the stealing themselves, always found her stash when she was away. Didn't matter if she used her semblance or set traps, they took it all the same. On the street, the only things you ever truly owned were the things that never left your body.

No home, no family, no friends, and tonight, no food. Emerald wondered how much longer she could live like this. As a kid, it had actually been easier. You could tell yourself that is was going to get better. When you grew up things would chance, but years went by and nothing changed, in fact, they got worse. People were a little more generous to children because they pitied them, but as you got older charity gain a price. " _I'll do this for you if you do this for me."_ It was always a rotten deal that expected way more from you than it did them. That was even if they follow through with it. Half the time you do what they ask and they'd disappear, or walk away laughing.

There had been a chance to leave this life behind. About a year ago a woman had seen Emerald use her semblance to take a ring from a jeweler. She had cornered her in an alley. Asked if she wanted to come with her, be powerful, be feared, be full. It had been so tempting to accept. The woman standing in front of her was the person Emerald always wanted to be, but life on the streets made you learn to judge people quickly. That woman didn't want the help of Emerald Sustrai. She wanted the help of Emerald Sustrai's semblance. She wanted to use her just like all the rest. Well, Emerald had been used before and she was tired of it. Even if her life was awful and going nowhere fast, it was still hers.

The lady in red had not taken her rejection kindly. Emerald still shuttered at the fight they had, the flames, the lighting quick swords, the wailing of the sirens in the distance. Emerald was lucky to be alive. If it wasn't for the police and brief distraction with her semblance, she wouldn't be.

As Emerald was reminiscing, she heard the stomping of feet rushing towards her. She griped the twin blades, behind her back, but didn't deploy them just in case the runner would just pass her by.

No luck. The minute the blond-haired boy rounded the corner and saw her he ran right for her. Emerald recognized him as the person she had stolen the diary from. His hair was matted to his face from sweat and by the time he stooped he front of her, he was bent over trying to catch his breath. "Give me back my journal," he panted.

"And what if I don't want to," Emerald said fully deploying her weapons.

The boy stood up to his full height, which was quite a bit taller than her, and stared at her with desperate eyes. Emerald tensed. Her opponent didn't look practically threating, she would even say he looked like a dork, but she knew that look. It was the look she, and other street rats, sometimes gave when they were willing to do anything for food. Desperation like that could be more dangerous than any weapon. What the hell could be inside that book to make a man act like this.

The boy took one step forward and Emerald found herself taking one step back. "If you don't give it back," he said, "you're really going to be in trouble."

Emerald got into her stance knowing this could only end one way.

* * *

Excerpt from the book

 _Caretakers often use magical or enchanted items to assist them, but hardly, if at all, do we question where these items came from. Some are created by humans, using our knowledge of the unknown world, but this disturbingly seems to make up only a small percentage of these items. It's possibly that the majority of these items were crafted by ancient humans and the knowledge has since been lost, but this does not explain the more modern incarnations of these items. I have personally come into contact with an everyday, mass produced, pencil that was capable of regenerating itself. A small thing I know, but this clearly demonstrates that magical properties can manifest anywhere. They might grow more powerful with age. The question is, do these items acquire these properties when they are first created, or are the absorbed at a later date? If the answer is the former then it must either be the process or the martials themselves that bring out the dormant power. If it's the latter, and I believe it is, the cause becomes much harder to pinpoint. There doesn't necessarily have to be a single cause for the creation of these items, but supposes there is some divine architect out there that decides what will be imbued with power. Can we really trust the tools we use if that is the case? Can we trust our tools if that isn't the case because like it or not they come from the same world we are constantly fighting? Are they perhaps the things controlling us? And what about the items that are recorded to have been destroyed only to reappear decades later? Why do they need to exist? What plan do they have for us?_

The passage continues with these types of question until it abruptly cuts off, and is picked up a couple lines down with different handwriting.

 _It would seem my uncle has died from a heart attack. In honor of his memory, I will not erase his last entry, but I advise future readers to disregard it. The old man seems to have lost his grasp on sanity after confronting Mr. Bedlam. I had warned him not the chase the mad hatter, but I was ignored. I would like to make a point that my uncle wasn't complete unfounded in his suspicion of magical objects but taking it to the extremes, as he did, is frankly ridiculous. They are no more unusual than anything else we deal with. They will come and go as they please just like any other creature of the unknown world. Regardless of how they come to be, these tools of the unknown world produce their intended effect without any negative consequence. It is foolish to imagine that a divine being of such power, as my uncle has described, would care enough about a race of hairless apes to hand-pick items to either help or destroy them. If a rabbit learned how to use a rife, would it not be absurd for it to think it an elaborate trap being used against him. The rabbit would be much better off firing it back at the hunters than setting it aside out of fear._

* * *

 **An: The other tagged character is finally introduced, a little of Jaune's past is revealed and whole lot of allusions to other things that may or may not appear further down the line. We'll just have to see.**


	5. Chapter 5

"If you don't give it back," he said, "you're really going to be in trouble."

Emerald watched her opponent closely. Besides the tenseness in his muscles, there wasn't any sign to how he would fight. He didn't get into any stance and he didn't draw a weapon, but Emerald wasn't stupid. She had been living on the streets long enough to know that Blondie was just trying to bait her by not putting up a defense. He probably had a hidden knife that would strike her the moment she got close.

They remained in deadlock, Emerald taking one step back every time he took a step forward. Neither of them were willing to attack first fearing the unknown counter, but Emerald recognized that Blondie was getting anxious as he keep stealing glances at the book she had quickly stashed in her side pouch. Whatever was written in there was important enough for him to look away from her weapons. In a war of patience, Blondie was going to falter first, but a little taunting might help him along.

"Why is this book so important to you? Does it have all you deepest, darkest secrets?"

"In a way, but there's nothing in there you could get anyone to believe let alone sell, so just give it back."

"What if I don't want to?"

"Don't make me do this."

"Try me." Blondie took a heavy breath. Emerald tightened her stance and prepared her semblance, whatever he was planning was about to happen. Blondie brought his hands to his mouth and turned slightly to the side. Was this some weird fighting stance or was he using his own semblance? The air was thick as he took another deep breath and…

"Help! Thief! Someone call the police!"

Emerald's weapons nearly fumbled from her hands as she abruptly stopped herself from luging the guy while he had been distracted. She recovered quickly, however, and rushed him. "What the hell are you doing?" she screamed, planting her heel right in his gut.

His shouting stopped and he collapsed onto his hands and knees in a coughing fit. The fight was over and Emerald had won, but instead of the relief of knowing she got to live another day, she felt embarrassed. She had been prepared to fight this guy to the death, yet he had obviously not been prepared to do the same. How bad had her life gotten that she had consider this guy a threat?

His coughing fit ended and he looked up at her, still on his hands and knees. "Give it back."

Emerald couldn't take it anymore. "Are you crazy! You think you're in a position to be making demands from me? How stupid are you?"

The boy looked around, seemingly evaluating his position, and confirming she was correct. He then slid his arms forward and put his forehead to road, bowing to Emerald. "Please, give it back."

"Are you serious! Why would I do that?"

Blondie jumped to his feet, looking just as fed up as Emerald felt. "Well, the cops apparently decide to take a day off, I can't take it from you by force, so what else can I do? Why do you even want my journal? It doesn't have any value to you."

"It's doesn't matter why I want it," Emerald said, not wanting to admit her mistake. "I stole it so I can do whatever I want with it."

Blondie grit his teeth and raised his hand like was going to try and grab her, but one look at her blade made him reconsider. "Look, how about a trade. You give me my journal back and I'll see what I can give you in return."

Emerald made a show of thinking about it for a little bit, but in her mind, she already knew what she wanted. There were some things that couldn't just be stolen. "Buy me dinner and I'll consider it." Her stomach grumbled in agreement.

* * *

Jaune sulked behind the green-haired thief. If he tried really hard, he could pretend this was a date, and not the extortion scheme it was. She looked so happy about it, too, with a spring in her step as she led them to wherever they were going. Jaune just hoped she would keep her end of the deal. Making that journal once was hard enough. He might go insane if he had to do it again.

"We're here," the girl said.

Jaune looked up at the clearly high-grade restaurant with a lush balcony, fitted with stone archways. The few people he could see dining were dressed in nicer clothes than he owned. "I don't think we really belong in a place like this," he said. "Besides are they really going to let you in with those." Jaune motioned to the two very deadly looking weapons she had.

"It will be fine," she dismissed. "Just remember you're paying."

Jaune could hear his wallet cry out as they approached.

The host greeted them skeptically, obviously questing what a couple of tattered teens were doing in a place like this. "How can I help you."

"Table for two, please," Jaune's companion said with the confidence of someone who belonged.

The host was still, understandably, concerned. "I'm sorry to inconvenience you, but there has been a string of dine-and-dashes coming from the nearby district." The implication that the two of them were a flight risk was obvious. "So, I must ask you to be willing to pay for your meals beforehand."

"That's perfectly fine."

The host still clearly not believing them, but not having any reason to deny them, grabbed two menus and lead them to a small table. It was towards the back and obviously meant to keep them out of the sight of other, more respectable, customers. The two sat across from each other and were told a waiter would be with them shortly.

When Jaune saw the item pricings, he almost cried. "Please, have mercy on me. I'm already broke," Jaune pleaded.

"Do you live in a place with four walls and a roof?"

"Yes."

"Then you've got lien to spare.

When the waiter did show up, she ordered one of the most expensive items on the menu. Jaune didn't even bother to try and get her to change her mind. "Just some water and the house salad for me," he said handing the man the majority of the money in his wallet.

"Wow, Blondie I thought for sure I was going to have to steal your wallet and pay for it myself."

"It's Jaune, and if that was your plan, why didn't you steal it on the way here."

That earned a frown from his dinning partner. He had kept an iron grip on his wallet ever since they made their deal. Not even the best thief could steal a wallet when the target was clutching onto it like his life depended on it. "Whatever," she mumbled.

"Would you mind telling me your name? I would at least like to know the person who's going to put me in debt. That way when I'm forced out onto the street, I'll have a connection."

"Nah, I don't think so. I have enough trouble taking care of myself. Don't want some dog following me around."

"Okay," Jaune conceded, "I'll just call you Greenie."

"You're really annoying, you know that."

"Sorry, normally I'm a lot more sociable when I'm not talking to a person who's holding my property for ransom just so they can wolf down some expensive food."

"What did you say!" she said, slamming her hands on the table. Jaune flinched at the sudden outburst of anger. "Don't you dare accuses me of being a glutton. Do you know what it's like digging in the trash for your next meal? I'm lucky to get one hot meal a week." Her hand absently coasted closer to the handle of her weapon, and Jaune noticed people starting to stare.

"Okay, I'm sorry. That was over the line. Just calm down." Greenie seemed to remember where they were and brought her hand back to the table. Jaune sighed in relief. A criminal with an anger problem, just the thing he needed to top off his day.

There were a few moments of silence between them before the waiter came back with their food. "Enjoy your meal, but madam, I must ask you to tone down your voice. You're disturbing the other guests." The waiter didn't get a reply and obviously hadn't expected one since he walked away right after.

Jaune couldn't help but wonder why he hadn't just kicked them out since Greenie had nearly pulled a weapon, and Jaune was pretty sure that wasn't an acceptable practice around here. In fact, no one had even mentioned them. Jaune looked around to see if anyone was taking frightened glances at the armed girl but no one even seemed nervous.

Jaune turned back to Greenie, examining her through the steam of her freshly roosted meat. She was trying to slow her eating down for presentation sake, but she was still inhaling her food at an abnormal pace. "Why isn't anyone commenting on your weapons?" Jaune asked when she was midway through a bite.

She narrowed her eyes, angry that he had ruined a very special moment. She pulled the fork out of her mouth with a plop and set it down. "I'll answer that if you answer one of my questions first."

"What is it?"

"What's in that book that's so important to you."

"You're telling me you didn't take a look?"

"I flipped through it, but it was all a bunch of nonsenses to me. Magic is for kids, and the only monsters in this world are the grimm and other people.

"Would you believe me if I told you it was all real, and I need it for work."

"Nope."

"Then sorry I don't have another lie to tell you," Jaune said, picking around his salad with a smirk.

She narrowed her eyes again, but this time to considerif he was just crazy. "I'm not going to answers you're question if you don't tell me the truth."

Jaune rolled his eyes. "I told you the truth. You just don't want to believe it, but fine, I'll tell you something more believable. I'm an inspiring horror author and that journal is where I write all my ideas."

"I can tell you're messing with me. Do you think you're a funny guy?"

"I like to think I am, but this isn't a joke. Now spill, why isn't anyone noticing your weapons?"

"As if I'm going to tell a liar like you the truth."

"Pretty ironic coming from a thief." It was a miracle they hadn't started yelling at each other. It was probably only their location that kept his dinner date from stabbing him, and Jaune was making sure to use that advantage as much as he could.

"If you're really telling the truth, prove it. Cast a spell and impress me."

"I'll need my journal for that." Jaune soon found his journal being tossed towards him. Sadly, it didn't quite make it to him and instead landed right in his salad.

"Oops," Greenie said, taking another bite of her steaming steak.

Jaune knew that using magic in such a public place and directly in front of her was a stupid thing to do but pettiness won out, and he grab a napkin from the table and drew an etch, using his journal as a reference.

The thief watched it all, clearly not expecting anything to happen, so when her steak suddenly turned ice cold the expression on her face was all the better.

"What did you just do?" she growled.

"Giving you proof."

"Bullshit, you're probably just some two-bit magician who's good at using some sleight of hand dust tricks. That or it's your semblance."

"Come up with as many theories as you want, but what you just saw was definitely magic, trick or not, so now you have to tell me yours."

Greenie looked down at her weapons then back at Jaune with a glare that would send must men running, but Jaune was just pissed enough to stand his ground. Her jaw clenched at his stubbornness. "It's my semblance. I can make people hallucinate. Anything complex I can only do to one or two people, but something simple like making my stationary weapons appear invisible, I can do to a lot more."

"Still, it must be taxing to keep it up on some many people for so long."

"For a meal like this, it's worth it, or at least it was," she said, looking down at her slightly frozen streak. She still continued to eat it, though.

Jaune thought about how her semblance fit perfectly with her profession. It would be nice to have and ace like that up his sleeve. With a power like that it would have been easy to steal the transdimensional plate.

Actually, it didn't necessarily need to be him to steal it. His eyes fixated on the girl, something she easily noticed. "What?" she said looking a little uncomfortable with the direct eye contact.

"What if we made another deal? I need to steal something and it sounds like you'd be prefect."

She raised her brow, just a little, at the sudden offer. "What would be in it for me?"

"If I get this item, I'll be able to prove beyond a doubt that what's written in this book is the truth."

"That's not enough. I'm curious but not that much; besides, if you're telling the truth, then I'm not sure I want to know. I have enough reason to watch my back without adding any of these supernatural things you believe in."

"Then how about I sweeten the deal. You said you don't get many hot meals, well it just so happens I'm the head cook at a popular night club. If you do this for me, I'll make sure to give you a free meal whenever you want." Jaune had no idea if Junior would actually allow that, but it's not like the club made its profit from the food so it shouldn't be too big a deal. All that mattered was if Greenie believed it, and by the looks of it, she did.

She gazed down at the near finished steak thinking about how tomorrow would be another day of forging for scraps. "You said you had a house."

"An apartment but yes."

"Let me move in with you and I'll do it."

If Jaune would have been eating anything he would have choked. "Why would you want that? Surly you're good enough to steal enough money to pay rent every mouth. The only funds I have were the ones I was able to take from my messily savings account, and even I was able to afford a few months."

"It's not all about the money. You have to have an ID and a solid background to rent, even in the worst places. Both of which I'm severely lacking. Also, I would have to sign a lease, leaving a paper trail, something I'm sure the cops and the people I've pissed off over the years would love to follow."

Jaune pulled back a little. Letting this girl into his apartment was just asking for everything to be stolen, and even if that wasn't her plan, they had barely avoiding fighting over the course of dinner. It wouldn't take long for blood to start flying if they roomed together.

Still, he wanted that transdimensional plate, not just to get the playground back but for all its possible future uses. What were the odds this girl was really going to stay with him, anyways? She would get one look at his small and rapidly decaying apartment and turn around on the spot. If the initial impression didn't work then the state of the bathroom and single bed would do the trick.

"If that's what you really want, I guess I can agree to that," Jaune said holding out his hand.

"Emerald," she said, taking it.

"What?"

"Emerald, that's my name, so don't you dare call me anything else."

Jaune chuckled. "Alright Emerald, cheers to our new partnership."

* * *

Jaune and Emerald stood outside Vale's Ancient Civilization Museum. It was closed for the night, but Jaune could see a few guards through the windows. The pair had come straight here after Jaune had explained what they needed. Emerald had then spent the next couple hours checking the place out.

"What do you think?" Jaune asked when she returned.

"The place isn't built like a maximum-security prison, but they certainly aren't slacking on security. From what I could tell there's only five or six guards, but there's a ton of cameras and I'm willing to bet they've installed some motion sensors inside the building."

"Can we do it?"

"Normally, a place like this would require a stakeout for at least a couple days before I would even considerer breaking in, but since we know exactly what we want and aren't trying to sell it, we don't have to be as cautious with the retrieval. As long as we can get in and get out, it doesn't matter if they instantly notice it's missing."

"Won't we be swarmed by police if that happens, though."

"Just let me handle that. Now put this on and let's get going." Emerald handed Jaune a garbage bag as long as him with two eye holes cut out.

"Um, are you really expecting me to where this."

"I'm sorry, who's the expert here?" Emerald said, putting on her own trash bag. Jaune groaned and did the same. It smelled like spoiled milk.

The two of them went around back to a loading bay, Emerald showing Jaune where to walk to avoid all the cameras. When they made it to the door, Emerald stopped him. "There's a camera pointed directly at the entrance. There's no way we can get in without being seen by it. Stay right behind me and keep up. If were fast enough, hopefully the guard watching the cameras wouldn't get a good look at us."

"You're putting a lot of faith in this guy having poor eyesight."

"Guards like him stare at screen every day of the week watching a lot of nothing happen. He's probably bored out of his mind and won't have that fast of a reaction time. As long as we make it through without him immediately recognizing us as intruders we'll be fine."

"I don't know," Jaune said, thinking of a few ways this could go horribly wrong.

"Just trust me on this." Emerald said. "On my mark. Three, two, one—go!" Emerald bolted for the door with Jaune half a step behind her. The door wasn't locked and the pair made it inside within a second. There incredible pace was sort of undercut by the fact a guard was sitting in a small glass box literally two feet to the right of them. He looked directly at Emerald, but instead of looking shocked he gave her a smile.

The walkie-talkie on his belt cracked to life. "Hey, I think I just saw two people enter on your point. What's the situation?"

The guard picked up his radio and held a button on the side. "Relax, it's just Max. There's nothing to be worried about."

"Oh, okay. I guess I'm just really tried tonight. I'm seeing doubles."

"Only a few more hours to go," the guard laughed putting the walkie-talkie back on his belt. "You're back early, Max. Could it finally be the day you've decide to quit being a slacker?"

"If I still have time, I can go back out," Emerald said.

"Don't even think about it. Just swipe in and get to work."

Emerald nodded taking a plain white notecard from her pocket and sliding it through a keycard reader next to a door. Obviously, the machine didn't accept it and flashed red. Emerald shrug as if she was confused and then tried again. It denied her once again.

"Dumb machine always having problems," the guard grumbled. "I'll just let you in and tell someone to look into it in the morning." The guard pressed a button and the sound of the door unlatching was heard.

"Thanks," Emerald said opening the door so both of them could get through. Once they were on the other side they were in the museum proper.

"What the hell was that?" Jaune nearly shouted.

"I'll explain while we walk. Watch out for cameras." Jaune lead the way since he knew exactly what they were looking for and where it was.

"So, why wasn't that guard at all suspicions of two trash ghosts walking through?"

"My semblance, of course. He didn't see us. He just saw a projection of another guard that I'd had gotten a look at when he went outside to take a smoke break. The reason we waited so long is because I was waiting for that guard to go outside and take another one. Last time he was out there for fifteenth minutes, and I got you after he had been out there for seven, to make it plausible he could have finished his smoke in that time. It took us two minutes to get in, so we have about four or five to find whatever it is you're looking for. Once he comes back they're going to know something is wrong."

"If you were just going to use your semblance to get us in, why are we wearing these stupid costumes?"

"Because you idiot, my semblance doesn't work on technology. Even if I can make the guard think we're a different a person, the cameras are going to record the real thing, it wouldn't do much good if are faces were caught on film. Unless you're willing to get some plastic surgery that is?"

"I'm good."

"But I think it could do you some good." Emerald mocked.

"Shut up, I'm fine with the way I look."

"If you say so." The pair of thieves stopped in front of the room that housed the transdimensional plate.

"It's that thing." Jaune pointed to the glass case holding the strange disk-rod.

"Damn, it's right in the center of the room. No way we can avoid the cameras, and that's if we haven't already set off the motion detectors. I doubt they're going to believe their guard strayed so far from his route, whatever that may be. Looks like we're going loud. At least it's small."

"Wait, hang on!" Jaune tried to stop her but Emerald was already racing to the case in the middle of the room. Once she was there she pulled her arm back and punched through the glass with her bare hand. Jaune thought for sure she was going to slice her hand open but instead the glass bounced off her skin, harmlessly, as she grabbed the item.

"Why isn't there an alarm?" Jaune asked as she came back.

"There is. It's just silent," she said grabbing his hand and pulling him forward. "We need to get out of here. No need for stealth anymore, just run for it."

Jaune and Emerald sprinted down the long hallways as fast as they could. It looked like Emerald was taking them to the entrance of the museum instead of backtracking. "Hey you, stop!" A guard shouted as they rounded a corner,

Emerald was on him in a second, punching him in the gut and sweeping his legs out from under him. Jaune felt bad as her heard the loud crash when the guard fell onto the nice polished floor, but he couldn't take the check on him.

They could already hear the wailing sirens in the distance as they entered the lobby. Emerald didn't even bother to see if the front doors were locked or not before pulling out her weapon, shooting the handle, and kicking the door open.

The police were still a couple blocks away which allowed Emerald and Jaune to ditch their disguises in a dumpster, probably the same one they'd come from, and flee into the night.

* * *

"So, how was your first heist," Emerald asked as she lazy walked down the street with her hands behind her back.

Jaune on the hand was red-faced ant hunched over as he tried to keep up. "Exhausting, not to mention the amount of times I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest. Do you think they might be following us?"

"No, if they knew who we were, they would've just arrested us. We're far enough from the crime scene, too. That being said, stop looking for your shoulder every two seconds. You're practically screaming that you've got something to hide."

"Well, sorry for being nervous. I've never done anything like this before."

"Just act normal for now. Once we get this done, you can have your moral dilemma in your own home. By the way, even if your magic trick doesn't work, our deal still stands."

"It will work."

The two bickered all the way to the school and hopped the fence. It was exactly the same as Jaune had left it, without a piece of playground equipment in sight. "Alright mister magician, let's see cast you're spell."

"Shut up and give me the transdimensional plate," Jaune said, nursing a headache that had no doubt been caused by his new "partner."

"The what?"

"The thing we stole!" Jaune really needed this night to be over.

Emerald pulled out the tool, and Jaune roughly took it from her hand. He didn't miss the glare he sent him, but he was too tried to care. He looked at the transdimensional plate with all its disks and back at the empty space where the playground once was.

"Is this going to take long?" Emerald commented from the sidelines.

Jaune ignored her. He would rather die than admit to her that the plan sort of ended when they got it here. The plate itself didn't give any clue to how it worked, so Jaune just spun the four disk around as fast as he could.

Nothing happened.

"Are you ready to admit that you're wrong? Whatever you think is going to happen isn't."

"We haven't even been here for a minute. Give me some time." Emerald disapprovingly shook her head and took a seat right there on the ground. Now that Jaune had some peace and quiet, he took his time to examine the transdimensional plate from every angle. Roman hadn't given any instructions on how to use it, so it couldn't be to complex. Then again, Jaune wouldn't put it passed Roman to considering that information worth another phone call.

It wasn't until Jaune was about to give up and consult his journal that he noticed something. "Hey, when you stole this hadn't the black disk been below the grey disk."

"I don't know," Emerald groaned. "Why does it even matter."

"Because right now the black disk is above the grey." Jaune removed the top three disks and put them back in the order that they had been in when he saw it on display. On the bottom was still the transparent disk but then it went black, grey and white.

"What the—!" Emerald said, mouth wide open as she stared at the spot directly in front of him. There had been no flash of light or portal opening up in the fabric of space. The playground was simply back as if it had never left. "But that's not possible. There wasn't anything there. It must be another trick."

Jaune looked down at her with his lips tighten into a smug grin. "How can it be a trick? You said it yourself, 'there wasn't anything there.' Unless, you're going to accuse me of having another semblance."

"It must be smoke and mirrors, or something with perception," Emerald tried to reason.

"Do you think I really had us rob a museum just to play a trick on you. How would I have even set something like that up? You were with me the whole time."

Emerald seemed to run out of defenses and just looked at the playground slack-jawed. "Just who are you?"

"The name's Jaune Arc. Short, sweet, rolls off the tough, ladies love it. Profession: caretaker."

* * *

After a very long conversation, in which Jaune explained everything that lead up to him becoming a caretaker, they arrived at his apartment.

"I just can't believe this," Emerald said, taking a seat on his bed. "I mean, it's insane. How can all that stuff exist and no one knows about it. What else don't we know?"

"Forget about that!" Jaune yelled. "How did you walk in here and not turn away in disgust. Isn't this the biggest dump you've ever seen?"

Emerald looked at him confused. "It isn't great, but I've had to sleep in actual dumps before, so this place isn't all that bad. It even has a bed and a working bathroom."

"The bed is rotting way and the bathroom has something growing in it. You can't tell me that there's not as single place you could go that's better than this. Even if you homeless, under an overpass would probably be more sanitary then this place."

"Spoken like a person who's never had to live on the streets before. All those "better places" you're talking about are constantly being fought over. If you want to live there you better be willing to pay rent in blood. Also, while those places might seem nice and cozy on warm cloudless nights like these, when it rains or when winter comes, you'll be begging for a place with four walls and a roof. Living in this "dump" as you put it is about a million times better then curling yourself into the smallest ball possible hoping you retain enough heat to not freeze to death."

Jaune couldn't say anything to that. He now felt like an asshole for trying to kick her back out onto the street. No wonder she had been willing to help him rob a museum to live here. Things Jaune took for granted must have sounded like the deal of a lifetime to her. "I'm sorry," Jaune said, "I shouldn't have said that. You're free to stay here as long as you want."

"Good, now if you'll excuses me, I'm going to take a shower."

"Wait, can I ask you something?" Emerald raised a brow but didn't deny him. "How are you so strong. You punched through that glass case like it was nothing. It's didn't even cut you."

"That's just because I used my aura. I didn't do anything special." Jaune returned a blank look. "You do know what aura is, right?"

"Not a clue."

"Didn't you say you were planning on being a huntsman! How do you not know about aura?"

"What do you mean? I've never heard anyone talk about this aura."

"That's probably because it's so damn obviously that no one thought to. Just how do you think people become huntsmen?"

"You train really hard, get your body in shape, and once you've killed enough grimm and stolen their power, you gain a superpower."

"There's few crucial steps missing in there, and who the hell told you that you could steal power from grimm."

"My older sister."

It took a moment but it slowly dawned on him. "She was making fun of me, wasn't she?"

"How can you be so stupid?" Emerald scoffed.

"It's not my fault!" Jaune said trying to defend himself. "I was young and nobody ever told me anything different. If someone told you that a fat man dressed in red climbed down your chimney once a year to deliver presents, you would believe it till someone corrected you."

"For children, maybe, but you're an adult. How can you still believe that nonsenses?"

"You saw me use magic with nothing more than a couple of lines and bring an entire playground back from nothing. How can you say that's it unreasonable to assume that grimm could be used as power batteries?"

Emerald sighed. "Whatever, just come over here."

"Why?"

"I'm going to unlock your aura. If you going to keep playing wizard then you need something to protect you." Emerald placed her hands on Jaune shoulder and closed her eyes in contraction. They stood like that for a moment but nothing happened. Jaune looked at her to see what was happing and noticed a slight red tent to her cheeks."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Just be quiet!" Emerald shouted, opening her eyes, which looked redder than normal. "This is delicate processes where I basically have to share my soul with yours. This is normally done by someone much closer to you, so don't you dare try to make anything out of this. I'm only doing this because if you die I won't have a place to live."

"Alright, alright, you don't need to get so wound up. I'll be quiet." Emerald stared into his eyes looking for any trace of dishonestly, but eventually settled down and shut her eyes again. She started saying something that he couldn't quite make out since she seemed to be saying it as fast as she could. Jaune felt a tingling sensation in his body the entire time it was happing, and when she was done, it was like he exploded with energy. The strain from the entire day was gone, and he felt like he could run a marathon. "Wow, this is amazing," Jaune said flexing his finger and enjoying the white glow they produced.

Emerald looked about ready to collapse as she pulled away. "Just great," she huffed, "you just had to be an aura monster. I'm going to go take my shower now. Don't interrupt me, or I'll cut your eyes out."

"Got it." Jaune waved her off not really hearing what she said. This aura stuff was amazing. He felt like a new person. Why didn't everyone do this?

Get ready Remnant, Jaune Arc is moving up in the world.

* * *

Excerpt from the book

 _There are four realms, or dimension planes , in our universe. They are NOT different realities as portrayed by shitty science-fictions authors. Those do not exist. The gods would have no reason to fight over this one if there were. You can't travel to another world and meet a different version of yourself. How would that even work? If you went to another reality and there was a person with your name and personality living the same life you do currently, but they have different parents. Would that be you, or would the person who was born from your parents at the exact same place and time, but sharing none of your characteristics be you? The point is that following this many-worlds interpretation, that is being so praised by the ignorant masses, is ridicules not only within the knowledge I possess as a caretaker, which might actually make me more susceptible to this claim, but also goes against the very notion of reason because of a very simple paradox. If all realities exist then there must be realities that will never experience contact with other realities, but following the same line of thinking there must be realities that interact with every other reality, so unless there is some universal rule that can kept certain realities separated from being accessed by all other realities—in which case the issues ceases to be relevant since alternate reality travel would been rendered impossible no matter how advanced a civilization gets—no other realities can exist._

 _But, I'm getting off track. These details will be appearing in the book I'm currently writing and will go far more in depth than I am willing to explore here. Back on topic, the reason the four dimension planes can, and do, exist while other worlds cannot, is because for all intensive purposes they act as literal dimensions, adding to the three dimensions of space humans are accustom to. You may think of it as having a new direction to go. The four realms, although not always, play off and have effects on one another. The difficultly of travel between the realms varies on what is being transported and the realm the object is currently in. The four realms are as followed: Apeiron, Primary, Abyss and Dreamscape._

 _The Primary is the realm where humans are born and naturally exist. In other words, it's what you normally experience as you go about your life._

 _The Abyss is the strangest and most unknown of the four. The best descriptor we have for it is what religious people would refer to as Hell. Some of the more dreadful and dangerous monster are believe to spawn there and then come over to our dimension. Few people have tried to venture there, fewer return, and none have been able to give a satisfying answer to what exist there._

 _The Apeiron is the nothingness that lacks any cosmic laws or structure. It's believe that this is where the gods were born and currently inhabit. Humans can simply not exist there. The Apeiron is just incompatible with our minds and senses. Going there is akin to sensory deprivation. The Apeiron dose have a practical use, however. It can be used as a massive storage where any objects, lacking consciousness, can be sent and retrieved at any time without experiencing any degradation from the passage of time._

 _The Dreamscape is the dimension that has the closest connection to ours. It's a direct reflection of the Primary, but in which the abstract can manifest into physical forms like the notion of the self or the soul. Since the two realms are so closely connection, it is not uncommon for humans to slip instead while they are asleep, hence the name. The applications for the Dreamscape are numerous, and far too complex to mention in this brief summary._

* * *

 **An: Jaune and Emerald relationship is off to a rocky start, but they progressed from strangers to roommates in only one chapter, so I'm sure by the next one they become the best of friends with no more arguing or bickering at all.**


	6. Chapter 6

"Last night there was an incident at Vale's Ancient Civilization Museum. Two suspects, wearing trash bags, broke into the museum and stole a seemingly random artifact and injured a guard. Investigators have told us that the robbery is likely unrelated to Roman Torchwick's latest crime spree but will still consider the possibility. The two thieves were apparently able to get in undetected, but video footage shows them walking right through a guard station. The guard stationed at the time refused to comment on how this happened. The suspects hardly left any evidence, and the only thing police can confirm at this time is that the group consisted of one male and one female. They are asking anyone with any information to please call.

"But while something was stolen another was returned. A playground that mysteriously vanished from Ravensstone Middle School, believed to have been taken by scrappers, suddenly reappeared last night in perfect condition. School and staff are not sure what to make of this, but they are glad to have their equipment back, regardless. This has been Lisa Lavender, signing out"

Emerald circled her finger on the bar counter, barley paying attention to the TV behind it. She was bored out of her mind. Who knew you got some much free time when you didn't have to deal with the dangers of the street every day. Emerald couldn't even remember the last she did something that didn't pertain to her immediate survival.

It was that uncertainly of what to do with her time that had led her to following

Jaune to work. Imagine her surprise when it turned out he worked for one of the biggest mob bosses in the city. The burly man behind the bar was barely tolerating her presence, especially after Jaune had told him of their agreement. Emerald doubted that the infamous Junior knew about her directly, but he had been in the game long enough to see that she was an orphaned thief. He probably suspected her of stealing something from him in the past or planning to steal something now. She had seen what happened to people who got on the mob's bad side, though, and had never been willing to take the risk. Junior had threated to cut Jaune's pay for every meal he served her, and even floated the idea of firing him permanently for bringing street trash into his club, but the only other females in the club had talked him down.

Speaking of the girls, they were currently sat on either side of her drinking beverages that were excluded from the deal she made with Jaune. "Melanie, who's the new girl?"

"I don't know, Miltia, but mister cook brought her here."

"Oh no, do you think he's gotten bored of us? Maybe he and Junior are conspiring to hire this one."

"And shake my ass for money? Sorry ladies but I haven't sunk that low," Emerald replied, enjoying the way their faces fell at the same time, like they were reflections of each other.

"Really because with your outfit I couldn't tell," the white one sneered. "It doesn't leave much to the imagination. Is this how you attract your customer while you work the street corner?"

Emerald went for her weapons, the twins mirroring her a second later. It was about a second away from turning into a brawl, but a deliberate cough from the bartender made them freeze. His glare was leveled at all three, but Emerald was the one directly in the line of sight. "We are having our grand reopening in a few hours. I would appreciate it if we didn't have a repeat incident."

The twins stiffened and retracted their weapons while Emerald released her grip on hers. A fight here would be the end of any deal she and Jaune had made along with just causing pointless trouble.

"Maybe the outfit is to impressive someone special," Melanie said willing to skip the physical battle in favor of continuing the mental one.

"She did come here with Jaune," Miltia added. "She might have fallen for our dear cook."

"I thought you two were the ones into him," Emerald countered. "You did just come to his recuse when your boss threated to cut his pay, and doubt you did that for me or out of the goodness of your heart."

"Are you one of those people that thinks someone has a romantic interest just because they're nice to you?" Miltia said. "We were simply helping our co-worker. We don't want him to become homeless, right Melanie?"

"Of course, Miltia. There's nothing worse than being homeless and having to beg people to feed you."

Emerald growled. She came close to reaching for her weapons again, but luckily, before any of the girls could forget themselves, Jaune came out with three plates of steaming hot food. "I see you're getting along just about as well as I expected," he said, setting a plate in front of all of them.

"We were just bounding." Melanie said. "Isn't that right, Em?"

"Don't call me that."

"See. I already know how to make her mad."

"You don't seem to have to get to know anyone to figure out what makes them mad," Jaune replied. "It's probably just your semblance." Militia nearly spit out her drink when she heard that.

"That would make a lot of sense," she laughed. "Maybe being an annoyance it just part of her soul."

"How dare you talk about your sister like that, and you," Melanie said pointing towards Jaune, "do you think Junior will stand for you insulting his best employee."

"I'll let this one slide," Junior said from not too far away. He said it so seriously despite it obviously being a joke that the whole group couldn't help but laugh, except Melanie of course. She looked about ready to explode. Even Emerald was finding some humor in it.

Melanie, not likening this type of focus on her, quickly found a way to shift it somewhere else. "So, mister cook I've notice you have aura now. There's this new presence around you, impossible to miss. I'm just wondering who did it for you." Melanie's eyes moved to Emerald with a knowing smirk. "Whoever it was must be someone really close to you. You mentioned you family didn't live in Vale when you applied her, so that only leaves a lover. What I don't understand is why your aura needed to be unlocked. You're not doing anything dangerous, only cooking. Did you girlfriend what to increase your endurance, perhaps? Maybe thought you'd last longer."

Jaune faced blushed red, and another round of laughter shook the bar. This time Emerald did not find any humor and looked absolutely murderous. Oddly enough that intent was mainly directed at Jaune and not Melanie.

* * *

The club was in full swing now and Jaune was exhausted, not because he had to make and excessive amount of food but because he got so little sleep last night. As he had thought, his new roommate was an absolute nightmare. One of the first things she had done after she had taken her shower was lay claim to his bed. When he had confronted her about it, she told him to sleep on the couch. Jaune didn't bother pointing out that his apartment didn't have a couch. He slept on the floor that night, getting a whiff of all the delightful scents that had probably been building up for the past couple of years. He had thought about kicking Emerald off his bed, it was his apartment after all, but since she slept with her weapons like they were stuffed animals, he scratched that idea.

He would need to figure out a way to fix that, but so far, the only think he could think of was admit defeat and buy an air-mattress. It had only been one day and he already felt like, he was the one crashing at her place. She was actually there right now, having left when the customers started pouring in, despite not having a key to get in. She had assured him that she didn't need one which Jaune accepted at face value knowing that she could easily pick the lock, and even more sure that no one would try to stop her.

This had all been within expectations, however. He knew what he had gotten into when he accepted the thief's deal, and honestly, while annoying, it was nothing worse than what his sisters put him through. What was really souring his mood was an unrealized causality of the blonde's rampage. One of the things she had destroyed was the lights above the dancefloor, which of course had to be replaced, just not in the exact same way. Long story short, Jaune no longer had a magical grill, and while nobody had noticed the increase in his output speed, they sure noticed when it slowed down. He had received more complaints in the last few hours than he had gotten from every other day on the job combined. If it was about the quality of the food he might be able to understand, but every single one of them was because it was taking a little longer than they were used to.

It was putting him a little on edge since at any moment Junior could walk in and yell at if for being too slow despite it literally not be possible for him to go any faster. It was probably that building tension that caused him to jump nearly a foot in the air when someone tapped him on the side.

"I wasn't planning to spit in the food!" Jaune yelled, putting his hands in front of his face as if he was going to get hit, but as he looked through the spaces between his figures, he didn't see the hulking tower that was Junior. In fact, he didn't see anyone at all.

Had he just imagined it?

Another tap on his side caused him to look down and see a brightly colored girl, who he had to remind himself wasn't a kid. "Neo?" Jaune asked.

She nodded, happily.

Jaune relaxed happy to see the one girl he had meet in this city that was generally nice to him, even if that one girl worked as an enforcer for the most prolific thieves in vale. Jaune really needed to make non-criminal connections. It wasn't good for his personality. "You know, you and Roman can knock instead of scaring me to death."

Neo shrugged as if that was just the way things had to be.

"I guess I should have expected that," Jaune said checking the grill to see how much time he had to chat. "What do you need from me."

Neo smiled and held up her scroll pressing a play button. Roman's voice came played through in a low tired drone that lacked some his usual enthusiasm. "Hey kid, congratulations on completing your first real job. Truthfully, I had my doubts. Stealing form a museum without any prior experience is difficult if not impossible, but I guess, the Beacon forger doesn't follow convention. Anyways, enough with the praise. You're probably wondering why I'm having Neo play you a prerecorded message, and didn't just call you or meet with you myself. The answer to that is sort of complicated. Turns out, the business agreement I've become a part of is a little more demanding and nonnegotiable than I first thought. Nothing you should be worried about, of course, but I just want to let you know that you're officially on your own. I'll still answer two more phone calls, but I don't think we'll be seeing each other anytime soon, so no more of these little check-ins. I'm rooting for you kid. I hope you ready. P.S. about half of caretakers die by this point in their career, and objectively speaking you're at a disadvantage compared to your predecessors, so don't be ashamed if you fail. I won't think anything less of you."

The recording cut off and all Jaune could do was stare wide-eyed at an unconcerned Neo. "He was joking about that last part, right?" Neo shook her head in a definite no. "Just for clarification, I am the only person Roman has apprenticed? I'm not just another sap in line for the meat grinder, right?"

Neo latched her hands behind her back and leaned forward with the most joyous smile Jaune had ever seen. "So, should I just leave the book with you, or will you be a be to find it alongside my bloodied corpse."

Neo giggled in way that might have tricked him into believe she cared if it wasn't the fact she clearly didn't expect him to make it through to next week. Jaune took it all back about this girl being the nicest. She was a monster.

At that very moment, the twins walked in. "Jauneee~" Melanie called. "We're wondering what's the hold up with the food we order—oh!" Melanie's eye switched between Jaune and Neo. "Wow, I didn't know you were such a lady killer. You just brought a girl here this morning, and yet you're already going behind her back with short and curvy."

Neo seemed to be enjoying this as she quickly slid her arm through his and pressed herself up against him to the point where her very generous chest was getting squished. "It's not what it looks like."

"Just make sure that when you have your fun to do it on your own time and far away from any of the food," Militia added.

"I'm telling you it's not like that!"

* * *

Jaune returned to his apartment after a grueling day of work and teasing to find his room unlocked and his new roommate sprawled out on his bed with her head hanging over the side and her legs kicking in the air. "Have you heard of knocking? What if you had walked in on me naked?"

"Don't you start, too. I just escaped the twins." Jaune hobbled in. "Also, this is my apartment."

"Our apartment."

"It's not _ours_ until you pay for the rent." Jaune correct. "I was honestly hoping that you would've just stolen all my stuff and left."

"You can't get rid of me that easily. We're in this together."

"In what together?"

"You know going around fixing magical problems and saving the world."

"Forgive me for judging you," Jaune said not the least concerned with Emerald's feelings," but you don't seem like the type of person who would ever go out of their way to help someone. I thought you were just going it sit around her and mooch food off me like a house cat."

"That was basically my plan, but it's only been a day and I'm already so bored. I can't just still here and do nothing. Normal just doesn't cut it for me."

"You could get a job and become a productive member of society," Jaune suggested.

"I need some excitement in my life."

"Didn't the twins offer you one? I'm sure working for the mob is more than enough to fill that need," he said growing increasingly nervous. This couldn't be going where he thought it was.

"Then I remember I know a certain magic man," Emerald continued either not hearing him or not caring about the distressed look he was giving her, "who's has knowledge of a whole world of unusual and exciting things. If I tag along with him, I'm sure I'll never get bored,"

"Alright, stop right there! There will be no tagging along and no using me to amuse yourself. That was not part of the deal. You get food and shelter and that's it."

"And, why can't I?" Emerald said getting off the bed. "You can't just go out on your little adventures and leave me behind. I can help, or have you already forgotten about my assistance in the museum."

"I haven't and I'm thankful for it, but that was a one-time thing. You were the best person to help break into a museum, but I'm not making thievery a habit. The only thing you'll help do is drive me into an early grave."

"It's funny that you think I'm the one who will be unable to handle it. You should be thanking me for offering my help, or better yet, begging me to because in case you've forgotten we had a little scuffle when we met, and it didn't exactly go well for you."

"I'm not that bad. I've fought monsters before." Jaune said referring to the single misfit he had defeated. "Plus, I have aura now. I'm sure I'll be fine."

"Aura that I unlocked for you," Emerald stated. "You don't even know how to properly us it yet." Emerald proved it by delivery a quick punch to his shoulder which Jaune's aura failed to defend. "I can teach you and help you get stronger, but I'm not going to do it unless I come along."

"Why do you even want to?" Jaune asked rubbing his shoulder. "Didn't you want to leave the danger of your old life behind. Why are you so eager to jump right back in?"

"Like I said, I'm bored. I thought I wanted a safe and easy life, but I realize now that I'm never going to be happy like this. I've been through too much already."

"It's only been a day. You just need some time to adjust."

"Is this what this is about? You're not dumb enough to not realize the advantages of having a partner, one so much more skilled that you, but you're insisting you do this alone. Are you worried about me, or is it your pride? Can't stand having a girl show you up?"

"It's not that," Jaune said deciding to just tell the truth. "You're right, I need someone to look out for me, and on the surface, it seems like you fit all the criteria. You're strong, survived on your own for a long time and know what we're getting into."

"So, what's the problem?"

Jaune looked into her eyes making it very clear that this wasn't something in thought up in the moment. "I don't trust you."

Emerald had to take a step back. "Trust me? You didn't seem to have a problem when we robbed the museum."

"Once again that was a one-time thing," Jaune said. "I didn't have a choice. It was either do it with you or not do it at all, but this time I do have a choice. You know as well as I do that we don't get along. The only reason we know each other at all is because you stole from me. We might be roommates but calling us friends is pushing it."

"You're talking like we're mortal enemies," Emerald joked.

"We're not, but this isn't a game. What we're—what I'm—doing could get me killed. Let me put it this way, if something goes wrong and my life's in danger can I really count on you to not run away to save yourself? Can you count on me not to do the same thing?"

The room fell into silence as Emerald gave it some thought and came to the conclusion Jaune had been leading her to. "You've thought about this a lot."

"Pretty much the entire time I was at work."

"So, that means you were considering it."

"Huh."

"You were thinking about asking a young, beautiful girl to help you out on your heroic quest."

"I definitely wouldn't phrase it like that, but I guess you're right. That doesn't change—"

"So, it's not that you don't trust me, we just haven't gotten to know each other yet. We only just met, after all."

"I think I know enough about you through your actions to make a sound judgment."

"But, all that stealing and extortion was just business me. You can't really hold it against me. I was just doing what I needed to do to survive."

"I feel like I can."

"Don't be like that. You know, I hear Beacon has their students partner with the first person they see, they're expected to risk their lives for each other from then on out."

"Beacon is also a school where they get to interact with each other for months before doing anything dangerous along with having a full-staff that I'm sure can mediate if there's any problems."

"We don't need any of that. We just need to spend the day together. Once you get to know the real me, you'll change your mind."

"I don't like were this is going."

"I think it's time for the two of us to go on a date," Emerald laughed.

"I think the opposite."

"Don't be such a pessimist," Emerald said grabbing his arm and walking him to the door. "You should be thrilled. Don't act like you weren't thinking about me last night."

"Oh, I definitely had some thoughts on what I should do with you."

"See, I can already feel us growing closer."

* * *

Surprisingly, the place Emerald took them was somewhere Jaune was very familiar with. He had never been to any in Vale, but he had spent many hours in his hometown's arcade. This one was a lot bigger and lights were flashing everywhere. Against his will, Jaune was getting a little excited. Emerald wasn't any better as she wandered around with a sparkle in her eyes. She moved around the arcade cabinets like a girl possessed. "I didn't know you were into this stuff," Jaune said as they stopped in front of a claw-machine.

"Aren't I just full of surprise. I've always loved arcades. Stealing tickets from kids is easy, and the prizes are great. The huge stuffed animals are always the best."

"That's actually pretty cute. My sisters always wanted the big animals to."

"Yeah, you can tear them up and use their stuffing for warmth and their skin for a blanket."

"And suddenly everything makes senses. Have you actually played any of the games?"

"Why would I, everyone knows that you can't actually make a profit from them, and besides taking those tokens are a lot harder than the tickets. Cutting out the middle man saves time." Emerald seemed to honestly think that there was nothing wrong with what she just said.

"It's not about making a profit. It's about having fun." Emerald looked at him like that word was a foreign concept. Jaune couldn't believe this girl. "Here, let me show you what normal people do at an arcade." Jaune walked up to the coin machine and deposited some of the little money he had left to get a few tokens. "Which game do you want to play?"

They started with a typically cabinet shooter where they blasted through hordes of grimm. Emerald was way too good at it, and quickly racked up a score that was drawing people's attention. Even when Jaune character bite the dust, she continued to rampage through the level only getting hit in the sections the creator had made purposely unfair to force players to buy another life.

It wasn't long before Emerald destroyed the final boss and took the second highest score, first place was taken by some crazy person, nicknamed RED, who looked to have gotten a perfect score. "So, how was it?" Jaune ask as Emerald put the toy gun back, letting a kid take it to try and hopelessly emulate her performance.

"It wasn't the heart pounding action they advertised, but it was okay." The nearly ear to ear smile she wore seemed to suggest it had been a lot more than okay.

"I doubt anything here can raise your adrenaline past what you've already had to go through. In fact, we might as well just leave. All this fake tension and violence is probably boring you," Jaune teased.

"That would just be a waste of money," Emerald said, hiding her desire to keep play rather well.

"If you insist." They went around playing a few more games. Jaune crushed Emerald in a racing game, but got demolished in skee-ball and air hockey. Emerald also played a few other shooters to rack up some tickets, but even with all of Emerald's high scores Jaune simply hadn't brought enough tokens for them to earn that many tickets. When they got to the reward counter, the best they could do was some of the mid-tier prizes. Emerald had won most of the tickets, thankfully not stealing any from the other guests, so she got the select the prize. She made the odd selection of a small lava lamp.

With her gift in hand, Emerald took them to their next location which ended up being the mall a couple streets down. More specifically the clothing stores inside. Emerald was insistent on going to every single one where Jaune was subjected to the dreaded task of watching her try on different outfits. In each store, he got the pleasure of sitting next to a bunch of other guys, all with the same dead look on their faces, as they waited for their girlfriends to reveal their next outfit. Emerald, however, didn't bother asking for his opinion. She only came out to flaunt herself and giggle at the other boy's reactions before heading back in and starting the whole thing over. At the high-end boutiques, most of the outfits she chose were unbelievably extravagate. The staff were always pissed when Emerald asked for what amounted to an entire wardrobe to try on, only to walk out without buying a thing. It wasn't until they worked their way down to the common peasant stores did Emerald start to pick out clothes that Jaune could actually see her wearing. At the end of the three-hour long shopping spree, Emerald walked out with two new outfits, purchased with Jaune's money.

After all that was over, Jaune was finally allowed to choose a destination and took them to a park, buying ice cream for them to eat as they sat on a bench. Emerald happily munched on her frozen treat while savored the cool sensation that came with every bite. "This was fun," Emerald chirp. "Everything was so nice and relaxing, and I got to experience it with my new best friend." Emerald playfully slugged him in the shoulder.

Jaune sighed. "You can drop the act now."

"What are you talking about?"

"The Emerald I know isn't this friendly or cheerful. You've been off ever since we left my apartment. Don't act like this is something it's not. This whole date was just a ploy to get me to spend money on you."

"How do you figure that? This entire time I haven't asked you to buy me anything."

"Not directly but you weren't as subtle as you thought. You didn't take me to the arcade to rob a bunch of kids of their tickets. You brought me there because you genuinely wanted to play the games. You just didn't want to admit it and put on your naïve act to trick me into thinking is was my idea. Then you pushed it to see if you could convince me to buy some clothes for you. This "date" was just to get free stuff from me."

Emerald mouth turned from a bright smile that any guy would love to her more neutral expression. "You're smarter than you let on, but if you knew, why did you go along with it?"

"Because you're right, we do need to get to know each other better, and this was a good opportunity. I wanted to see the real you, the Emerald who doesn't have to scavenge the streets for survival, but turns out, the real you is nearly identical to the business you." Jaune leaned back on the bench watching a flock of birds cross the sky and squirrel run up a tree. "You know this is the same pack where I sulked for hours after getting rejected from Beacon."

"Then why did you want to come back her? Sounds like it's only reminding you of what you lost."

"It does but it's also the place where my new life began. If I hadn't sat here forever, I would never have run into Neo and never have had the chance to become a caretaker."

"Seems more like coincidence than anything that has to do with this park. You didn't even meet her here, right? You could have been at a dozen of other places and still run into her on your way back."

"True but I wasn't anywhere else. I was here, and it was here where I stood back up."

"You're too commemorative. Do you think I reminisce in front of the store where I made my first score?"

"Ignoring the fact that would probably get you arrested, I doubt it, but what can I say, I'm just that kind of person." They just sat there for a little longer, enjoying their ice cream until Jaune asked a question? "Did you really want to help me, or was that just another trick to get money off of me?"

"Does it matter. You said it yourself, you can't trust me, and I don't think this outing has done much to change your mind. I'm the same back-stabbing thief you peg me for the moment you realized I took your journal."

"You're right about that," Jaune laughed. "I wouldn't trust you to answer the phone, afraid you might try to scam the caller, but trust can only be built by working together. No matter how much we're together, we're never going to get to the level needed to put out lives on the line without actually doing it."

"So, what was all that talk back at the apartment? If trust wasn't the issues, what was actually stopping you from accepting my help?"

"Your probably not going to believe me if I told you."

"You've proven to me that magic is real. I'll willing to accept anything."

"I wasn't technically lying when I said it was about trust. It's just a little more specific. It's because I didn't know if it's what you really wanted."

"You're going to have to explain."

"I'm doing this because I want to be a hero. It's why I wanted to be a huntsman. I'm willing to put my life on the line to make that dream come true, but what about you? Do you just want to do it because you're bored? A way to kill time. Will you just quit when it gets too difficult or you just get tired of it? I'll be the first to admit that I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm going to see it through. If you're not willing to do the same than no matter how skilled you are or how much you could help me, I just wouldn't be able to work with you."

"So, what you're saying is you don't think the two of use share the same intentions."

"Pretty much."

Emerald lean forward and pulled the lava lamp she had won out of a plain plastic bag. "This right here will be the first luxury item I've ever owned. The first thing I can leave behind and be certain that it will still be there when I come back."

"You're putting a lot of faith in my apartment complex."

"Okay, maybe not one-hundred percent certain, but it's much better odds than out on the street. It's strange to think that it was only yesterday that I would have believe owning something like this to be impossible. Spending a whole day doing nothing else but having fun would have been unimaginable. I like it, but I also not completely happy with it. You dream is to become a hero. My dream, ever since I can remember, is to be somebody. Getting off the streets wasn't enough, I have to prove to everyone that even a lonely street rat can change this world. At first, I always thought that the only way to do that was to become the villain and force people to take notice of me. Rise up the ranks and become a crime lord or even a deadly assassin. It wouldn't be good but I would be someone, but one day I was finally offered that chance. There was this woman who promised me power and everything I'd ever wanted, but I turned her down, not because of morals or a change of heart. It was her eyes. They burned with a fury for this world that I didn't want to be a part of. If I had joined her, my only purposes would be to help reduce the world to cinder. That's not what I want, a world of nothing. When my dream comes true, I want people to see it and be amazed at what I did, and furious that they hadn't done it themselves, so yes, we don't have the same intentions, but that doesn't mean we can't take the same path. What better way to become someone than to explore a world most people can only dream of."

Jaune chuckled. "You know being a caretaker is kind of a secretive thing. I don't think you'll be getting a lot of recognition."

"Maybe not by name, but unnatural feats have a tendency to spawn legends. I wonder how many caretakers are known worldwide through fables and fairy tales?"

"So, you actually serious about this?" Jaune asked.

"I am."

"We're probably going to die doing this."

"I've come close to death more time than you can count."

"It's going to be a lot of work."

"Sign me up."

"You're going to have to work _with_ me not _against_ me."

"Pinkie promise."

"Well, if you're sure. We might not exactly be friends, and I'm still pissed that you stole my bed and robbed me of my sleep, but maybe a work partnership between us can work out." Jaune held out his hand in a fist.

"You bet it will. Just don't get mad when I'm better at this than you," Emerald said, bumbling her first with his. "So, what's are next adventure going to be?"

"Hold up there, I don't have jobs just lined up. It takes time to find something. It's not like a mysterious event is going to drop into our laps."

At that moment, a particularly strong breeze came through carrying the front page of a newspaper. That page came at the perfect angle to gently flutter onto Jaune's pants. Emerald leaned over to read the bold headline.

" _Third huntsman goes missing while investigating unresponsive frontier settlement!"_

"You were saying."

* * *

Excerpt from the book

 _I write this as a warning to those who dream of reaching summits higher than they can climb. As of this writing, I've have been a caretaker for over fifty years with my beautiful wife always by my side. She is dead now, killed by my unfiltered confidence. Over my time, I've fixed problems of the cosmos and fought the stuff of nightmares. It was why I thought we could do it, but taking on a named beast is no easy task even for a veteran. Those detestable things that rot this world._

 _To be brief, named beast are creatures that are either entirely unique in their existence or an anomaly of their caste. In the same way, human and faunus names become known through great deeds, creatures get their names when they commit disastrous accomplishments. The Mad Hatter, Seption, and Misery the Misfit just to mention a few. These terrors are unlike their kin. They don't follow the rules and you'll find this book full only of speculations and guesses about them, as I have now learned. I know it's a caretaker's job to deal with these abominations, but I can't help but feel that when a monster reaches a level and survived long enough that future generations can recognize it by name, it may be better to leave them well enough alone._

 _I should also mention that creatures aren't the only things that can be given a name outside of their general noun. Legendary items and tools appear from time to time completely changing the course of certain fields of research and exposing new powers previously undiscovered. Some of them are created by caretakers or named creatures themselves, but there are also those that are simply slumbering in the forgotten parts of the world waiting to be discovered, the Tear Shard from that accursed city_ _Cryphilictal_ _comes to mind. They come and go just as named creature arise and are killed by caretakers better than me, but a suggestion to any novice caretaker. Stick to the reliable, the things this book can describing in great detail and creatures that follow consistent patterns. Don't go for the abnormities in search of glory or the prizes defeating one often gives. Their blood is not worth your life._

* * *

 **An: This was a hard chapter to write. Jaune and Emerald's current relationship needed to be set without going too slowly or too fast and keeping them both in character. I took queues from Emerald and Mercury's dynamic, but with a little more compassion and understanding. I hope it turned out okay.**

 **This is far from the end of their development together, however. As of right now they've upgraded to a working relationship but they still aren't quite friends. Again, in the same way Emerald and Mercury interacted with each other. Next chapter will hopefully give them more time to grow as Emerald takes her first real plunge into the unknown world.**


	7. Chapter 7

"I can't believe we're walking the entire way."

"I can't believe you're still complaining about it."

"I'm just saying we could have taken a bullhead, or even rented a car."

"First, no commercial bullheads are traveling to Bury since, you know, nobody's been able to contact them for months! Second, no one would let us take a rental anything outside Vale's wall. Third, even if those options were possible, we don't have any money, and fourth is…well…I just don't do great on moving vehicles."

"Afraid you'll fall off?"

"Let's just say you wouldn't appreciate being in the splash zone."

Emerald and Jaune had been bickering pretty much the entire trip which really slowed them down since they would attract grimm every ten minutes. Emerald dealt with most of them, always using an unnecessary flashy move to taunt Jaune. That wasn't to say Jaune was just standing back and watching. He had managed to slay some minor grimm although it was always under Emerald's carful watch. She would never admit it, but Jaune was better than she thought he'd be. He was nowhere near the level of even an early Signal student, but she didn't need to tell him how to hold his sword and he had a basic stance. If it wasn't for the fact that he still didn't know how to properly use his aura, which would make even a single mistake deadly, she might have let him fight on his own.

"We should take a break and have lunch," Emerald suggested.

"Fine," Jaune said, looking at the sky to see the sun had just reached its peak and led them off to the side of the road. They kicked away some sticks and shrubbery to make a little spot for themselves under the forest canopy. It wasn't prefect but it wasn't awful, at least until, Jaune pulled out a blanket for them to lie on.

"Wow, are we having a picnic? Do you have a little basket, too?" Emerald said with the sarcastic cheer Jaune was getting used to.

"You're free to set in the grass and dirt if you would like," he said getting two plastic wrapped sandwiches from his backpack.

Emerald did not take him up on that offer as she sat on one side of the blanket taking the food Jaune gave her. "You certainly came well equipped. What other tricks do you have stored in your backpack?"

"All the stuff I need to make my etches and basic survive supplies: first-aid kit, map, compass, flashlight, sleeping bag, matches, cooking pot."

"That seems like a lot more than just the basics. Is this where all our money went?"

"All our money was spent on game tokens and outfits if you remember," Jaune said, thinking back on the incident with slight regret. "I got this stuff at an outdoors store for pretty cheap. It not the quality of huntsmen's gear but it will work for us."

"Still seems a little excessive for only a half-day's walk."

"A half-day's walk through the grimmlands, where we've already been attack half a dozen times. It's better to be prepared."

"You learn that from being a caretaker?"

"No, I learned to be this detailed while I was still very young. When you have seven sisters you'd better be prepared to deal with anything and everything especially when you take them anywhere outside the house."

"You talk about your sisters a lot."

"Well, up until a few weeks ago, I didn't have a life outside of them, so you'll have to forgive me."

"What are they like?"

"Nightmares, every single one of them." Jaune replied, viciously biting into his sandwich. "There was always something they needed from Jaune Arc and apparently, no one else would suffice. I don't think I ever left the house without at least one of them coming along. The other kids used to make fun of me for always giving into them. Said I was the real bitch of the Arc family." Jaune took another anger filled bite, but his expression quickly softened. "I love them, though. Even with everything they put me through, especially the older three, I would die before I let anything happen to them. It's one of the reason I wanted to be a huntsman."

"How did they react to you coming to Vale?"

Jaune silence was telling. "You didn't tell them, did you?"

"Listen, this isn't story time with Jaune! My personal matters aren't your concern."

"I'm just worried that a pissed sibling might come busting through our apartment door."

"Again, with this _our_ apartment, and that's not going to happened…probably."

"Sorry, I didn't catch that last part."

"Just eat your sandwich!"

The two on them relaxed for about ten minutes, letting the shade of the trees protect them from the beating sun while Jaune thought about their mission. They were heading to Bury, a smallish frontier town. From the research Jaune had done before hand, the town was settled by a bunch of famers looking to find more land outside of Vale's walls. It was always dangerous to build outside the walls, especially with no backing from the government, but they had been willing to risk it. Sadly, the risk hadn't paid off. Apparently, the ground wasn't fertile enough to mass produce crops. The citizens of Bury were able to grow enough for themselves but not enough to export back to Vale, and if there was ever a bad harvest many of them would go to bed hungry. Bury's economy was pretty much dead because of that and for the first few years it didn't look like it was going to survive. It ended up being a stroke of luck that had saved the town. In Mistral, a certain type of oak wood had become popular to make furniture out of, and it just so happen that Bury was sat right next to a whole forest filled with them, so the town went into the lumber business and grew from there. Since the town couldn't export to Mistral directly it became a popular merchant point and spawned a lively market because of it. The demanded for the oak wood has decreased over the years, but Bury was still a healthy town that just wasn't well known by anyone who didn't have business there.

At least that had been the case up until recently. Bury had gone completely quiet and no merchants have come back after going there. A grimm attack was the obvious answer, but when a huntress had gone to investigate, she didn't return. After a while, a second huntress was sent, but only to scout the situation and report back, she never came back either. By that time, the media had gone into a frenzy bringing the little know frontier town to the front page, or at least they tried to. The government censored most of it to avoid a panic, which was way Jaune wasn't aware of it before, but it was impossible to kept the story completely under wraps. Markets don't lie so when the price of that oak wood suddenly spiked, it didn't take long for the people who watch such things to realize there was a problem. Some of the Mistral elite were particularly furious at the increased price and the Mistral government offered to send their own, specially trained, huntsman to deal with it. Vale accepted, but that huntsman disappeared as well, and while the Vale press were still muzzled, the Mistral press was under no such restriction. They made headlines with what they thought to be Vale's incompetence by letting a Mistral huntsman die trying to fix their problem. It was actually a Mistral newspaper and not a Vale one that had landed in Jaune's lap. Emerald seemed to think that Mistral had brought them over to hurt Vale politically, but that was all just speculation. What wasn't was the fact that the disappearance of Bury was now global news with everyone too busy pointing finger at each other to try and solve the problem. Everyone expect Jaune and his green-haired partner.

It was a dangerous job, one that three fully fledged huntsmen couldn't do, but to Jaune it was clear that this wasn't a job for a huntsman. This needed a caretaker's touch…Emerald could come too. Just in case it really was grimm.

The pair finished their meal and packed up their stuff ready to complete their trek to Bury. "How much longer until we get there?" Emerald asked.

"Let's see, the last time you asked me that I said we were three hours away, and that was an hour ago, so what do you think?"

"I think you should be nicer to me since I'm the only thing that can stop that pack of grimm from making you beowolf kibble."

"What pack of gr—oh crap!"

* * *

"I can't believe you left me to fend for myself against all those beowolfs."

"I can't believe your still complaining about it. You did fine."

"I could have died!"

"No, you couldn't have."

"And why is that!"

"Because they were just my illusions." Emerald smirked.

Jaune stopped in his tracks and Emerald could almost see the smoke coming from his ears. "I hate you so much."

"You're going to make me cry."

Jaune turned away in a huff and refused to speck the rest of the way, but when they made it to Bury, he was silent for a different reason. Both of them could only stare dumbfounded at the sight before them. "Jaune, are you sure you read the map right?"

"I'm positive," he replied. "This is definitely Bury."

The town looked completely normal. No black smoke, no corpse littering the ground, no cries for help. "Maybe it's just looks okay from afar?" Jaune suggested.

That assumption was quickly discredited as Emerald and Jaune walked into the town proper to see a bustling outdoor market. A woman in a bright yellow dress was buying some food from a vendor. Kids were drawing pictures of grimm with sticks, in the dirt street. An apple fell from a food cart and was quickly snatched up by a teenage boy with curly orange hair. "Boy you better get back here, or I'll spank you so hard you wouldn't be able to sit for a week!" The boy's father yelled from a nearby house. It was all stuff you could find in any frontier town. Jaune's own hometown had been exactly like this although Axel was quite a bit bigger.

"This can't be right. A perfectly fine village doesn't just lose contract with the world." Jaune said. "Let's go talk with someone surely they'll have some answers."

Jaune walked over to a relatively empty stall that looked like it sold precious metals "Excuse me sir, but is this Bury?"

"I would hope so," the man replied, his long bread dripping with every word, "or I wouldn't know where I was."

"Have any huntsmen or huntresses passed through recently?"

"Son, we haven't needed to request a huntsman in decades. The boys out here are made of hardier stuff."

"Are you sure?" Jaune asked again.

"Yes, I'm sure. You think I would have missed someone like that walking through. Speaking of which, I don't recognize either one of you. Are you two tourists?"

"More like travelers," Jaune said. "We just wanted to stop by Bury."

"Ah, I remember my youth when I wandered around looking for adventure. Got into a few scruffs with some grimm." The man pulled up his left sleeve to revival a scar that looked like a claw mark. "There isn't much to see here and that was doubly true back when I was a kid. No wonder I decided to throw myself at the grimm for excitement. Anyways, if you're new in town you should check into the Wood Mill Inn. It's a little small, but it's cozy."

"Thanks."

"Also, make sure you buy something from the number one salesman in town!" The vendor announced spreading his arms over his wares.

"Thanks, but I don't really need anything right now."

"What about that sword that's on your hip. I'm sure you could use some backup material in case it gets nicked or something."

"I'm good," Jaune said, leaving the stall with Emerald in a way that wouldn't look rude.

It didn't seem to work as the vendor watched them, mildly irritated that they wasted his time. "Suite yourself. I'll just look after my _paying_ customers."

"Like you have any of those," Emerald shot back before Jaune was able to pull her onto a side path, away from the main market and any anger the vendor might have thrown their way.

"Why would you say?" Jaune hissed.

"He was being an asshole. Just because we didn't buy any of his stupid rocks doesn't give him the right to look down on us."

"That doesn't mean—you know what, never mind," Jaune said quickly giving up on trying to explain. "We have a job to do."

"Do we?" Emerald questioned. "From the looks of things, this town doesn't have any problems that we can solve."

"No, something strange is definitely going on. Three huntsmen disappeared investigating this place, and that is about as far from normal as you can get."

"Is it possible that it's not the town itself but something along the way that caused them to go missing? He did say that no huntsmen have been her recently."

"It's possible, but if that was the case than shouldn't we have hit the same thing?" Jaune pondered. "I'm also not going to take the word of some random street merchant that no huntsmen have come through. It's not like they have a title above their heads. Let's check that inn he mentioned. The innkeeper would know if any huntsmen checked in."

Jaune and Emerald made their way farther into town until they spotted the Wood Mill Inn. It was a wooden two-story structure that gave off a log cabin vibe. All the windows were old fashion six panes that made the building seems more residential than commercial. Bright green bushes ran along the front porch, and there were rocking chairs seated outside. The front steps creaked as Jaune steep on them, but it wasn't the kind of creaking that made you think it was unstable. It was the kind that came with long use and good care. The front door was made from dark wood and Jaune could feel the warmth from the handle as he opened it.

Inside was not your typical hotel lobby. The entire first floor was almost completely opened with a stairway in the back probably leading up to the actual rooms. It was like Jaune had steeped into a medieval guild hall with a solid hardwood floor and a huge stone fireplace, brightening up the first floor with its soft glow. The only sign of modern life was a TV above the fireplace and a table housing equipment for a breakfast buffet off to the side.

"This place certainly feels cozy," Emerald commented.

"I know what you mean. You'd never find something like this in Vale."

"Hello there," A young girl said, walking out from behind a counter. "I'm sorry that I didn't hear you come in. I hope you weren't waiting long."

"You're absolutely fine," Jaune said. If there was one thing Jaune could say about the girl in front of him, it would be that she was insanely cute. She was shorter than both him and Emerald, but not by much. Her long light-blur hair reached to just above the hem of her white and violet dress. Her eyes were a shade darker than her dress and she greeted them with a heart melting smile.

"Is there something I can do for you?" she said.

"Ah, yes!" Jaune said, overenthusiastic. "We were just wondering if any huntsmen have checked in here lately."

"I'm sorry, but we haven't had anyone like that check-in. The Wood Mill Inn usually only hosts traveling merchants." She looked so apologetic that Jaune just wanted to run up and hug her.

"Please don't worry about it. We were just curious."

"Are they friends of yours? Are you a huntsman?" she said, moving a little closer as she noticed the sword strapped to his side. The awe in her eyes was just too much. It was the exact expression he had imagined his sisters giving him once he a returned a hero.

Jaune rested a hand on the hilt of his sword, stood a little straighter and puffed out his chest. "As a matter of fact…"

"He's a Beacon dropout," Emerald intervened.

"That's not true!" Jaune said, trying to get her to read the mood.

"Oh, I guess you right," She said, snapping her finger like she had reached some new understanding. "You can't really dropout of a place you were never able to attend in the first place."

"Emerald!"

A soft giggling form their hostess stopped him from pushing any further. "I'm sorry," she said trying and failing to contain her laugher. "You two are just so funny."

"Thanks?" Jaune replied, not seeing the humor in the situation, but happy to have made her laugh nonetheless.

"So, are you two here to book a room?" she asked.

"Sorry, but no. We were just here looking for some information."

"What!" Emerald shouted, looking mortified. "Why not?"

"What part of 'we don't have any money' didn't you understand?"

"Th-then where are we going to sleep?"

"We'll have to make do on the streets. It's not like you haven't done it before."

"No," Emerald wined as she procced to shake Jaune's arm like a child. "You don't know what it's like. I can't go back. It's miserable out there."

"Would you stop?" Jaune said trying to push the thief off him. "It's still summer and it's only for a night. We'll be fine. It can't be that much worse than my apartment."

"You don't understand," Emerald cried, her lip quivering.

"Oh, I understand! I understand that you've gotten spoiled after riding the Jaune welfare train, but you've put it out of service and it times for you to get off."

"You meanie."

Jaune made a strangling motion with his hands. "You're the one who put us in this boat."

Before Jaune could evolve from museum robber to attempted murderer, their hostess interrupted. "Actually, if you really can't pay, I don't mind letting you stay for free."

"Huh?" Jaune said, dumbfounded.

Emerald on the other hand, completely recover in an instant and went over to the blue-haired girl. "Thank you so much," she said shaking the girls hand with a bright smile. "I don't know what we would have done without your kindness."

The girl blushed from the praise. "You're welcome. I could never turn my back on people in need."

"But are you sure that it's really okay? You don't look old enough to be the owner, so won't they be mad if they found out that you let us in for free. We—" Jaune caught the glare in Emerald's eye, "I mean, I wouldn't want to take advantage of your good heart."

"That's very kind of you, and you're right, my mother owns the place, but she's in Vale on a business trip right now. She thought I was old enough to run the place while she was gone since we don't get many visitors this time of year. In fact, we're actually completely vacant right now, so it doesn't matter if I give you room. I would also like the company if I'm being honest. It gets pretty lonely."

"Well if you're sure, we'd be glad to stay here."

"Thank you so much."

"I'm pretty sure we should be saying that to you," Jaune said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

"Oh, I haven't even introduced myself. My name's Lily," she said holding out her hand with a slight bow.

"Jaune," he said reaching out his own, "and this is Emerald."

"It's nice to meet you. Would the two of you perhaps like to join me for lunch. There's plenty of food and I'd just have to throw it out anyways."

"We had lunch a few hours ago, so I'm not really hunger right now, but thanks for the offer."

"Really that's kind of early, but I guess you were traveling," Lily said. "Then if you'll excuses me, I'll be eating in the back. Mom would kill me if she found out I ate with the patrons."

Lili quickly moved to the room behind the counter before Jaune could say anything. Sadden by his lost chance, he and Emerald took a seat at one of the many small rounded tables. "What should we do?" Emerald asked. "It looks like that merchant was right. No huntsmen have been here. Could their communication network just be down and the disappearances just all be coincidence?"

"My scroll's not getting a signal, so it's possible, but I refuse to believe we came out here for nothing. Do you know how hard it was for me to convince Junior to give me off work right after we reopened? He made me make so many prepackaged meals that my wrists still hurt."

"Poor baby."

"Shut up. If we want to compare patheticness, let's talk about how you used your semblance to guilt Lily into giving us a free room. I'd pay money to see Emerald Sustrai actually break down and cry."

"Then you better pay up because that was my amazing acting, no semblance involved."

"Wow, that might make it even more pathetic," Jaune said, smugly. "We need to focus, though. There is definitely something going on here, no way three fully train huntsmen just forgot to show up. We need to look around, maybe they stumbled upon something they weren't supposed to."

"You think the villagers might be trying to cover something up."

"I'm not sure, but I'm not ruling anything out. A lot of shady business can take place in frontier towns since they're far away from any real police force. I should know, my dad assists with the village patrol back in my hometown and they had to deal with more than a few troublemakers." Jaune stopped for a moment to think. "Alright, you go investigate the town and look for anything suspicious. I'll stay here I try to get more information from Lily."

"You mean you're going to hit on her," Emerald said, her arms crossed.

"It's not like that."

"Sure, it's not."

"Just go, you have more street experience than me so you'll find your way around better."

"I don't think being homeless and combing a village for its secrets are connected skills."

"Just do it. You're the one who wanted to come along. It's time for you to put some work in."

"Fine," Emerald said getting up and heading for the door, "just try to get something more than her three sizes and the color of her underwear."

She didn't get to see what Jaune threw at her as the front door swung close.

* * *

The layout of the town was a complete mess with no central planning whatsoever. In a very rough sense the village was divide into four sections: the open-air market, the local shops, the residential sector and the lumber yard. Since the lumber yard was the only place of any significance in the whole village, Emerald started her investigation there. She didn't know what she was looking for, but she did know that it was too damn hot to be looking for anything. Seriously, it was like the temperature had jumped ten degrees when they got here. She didn't know how Jaune wasn't passing out from wearing his stupid sweatshirt. Did he seriously not realize how dumb he looked with that ginormous bunny plastered on the front? She wouldn't have touch that affront to style even when she had been living in rags.

Emerald took a deep breath. No point in getting worked up over her partner. The heat was just getting to her.

Emerald didn't know the policy on visiting the lumber yard, so she opted to lay low and sneak in. The place was exactly like she expected with logs stacked up everywhere, a number of small buildings, sheds and more than he few burly men walking around, both human and faunus. Even if it was board daylight, with the sun still high in the sky, there was plenty of cover for Emerald to hide behind, so she wasn't too worried about being caught.

She poked around and eavesdropped on people's conversations, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. As far as Emerald could tell, this was a perfectly normal place. There was the constant roar of machinery and workers complaining about the heat and the long hours. Still, she didn't want to leave empty handed. Even if it only had the barest hit of strangeness, she wanted to bring something back just to prove she had done something.

Emerald ducked behind a pile of logs as a group of men walked by.

"I'm telling you something shady is going on with the boss.

"Would you put a sock in it. I'm tired of hearing your stupid theories."

"It's not stupid. The boss has been acting really strange lately."

"What he means to say is that the foreman is acting like he has a life outside the job, but I guess you wouldn't know anything about that. When was the last time you went out with us, junior year?" There was a roar of laughter.

"Fine, where do you think he disappears to so often?"

"I don't know. Just because you don't know his whereabouts every second of everyday doesn't mean he's disappeared."

"Then what do you make of his nightly outings. I've seen him sneaking around in the dark likes he's got a secret to hide, and I bet a million lien that his wife doesn't know about it."

"If I was married to that women, I wouldn't tell her where I was going either. The poor guy probably just wants to go to a bar without being nagged by her."

"I think he's selling drugs."

"Are you serious? You think Mr. Palm will be able to hit you up. Why would he even need to do that. He's the best paid person in Bury. He doesn't need an illegal side business. "

"Then where do you supposed all those kids are getting their weed from?"

"From one of the merchants, obviously. My money is on the spice trader. No way that smell is naturally that strong. She must be using it to hide the smell of something else."

The group slowly walked out of earshot. Their passing conversation could hardly be considered a lead, but it was all Emerald had. It was probably a good idea to investigate the foreman anyways.

It only took a few minutes for Emerald to find and break into the foreman's office. It wasn't like this place had any real security so it wasn't exactly hard. The entire office was just a single building about the size of Jaune's apartment. There weren't any amenities which Emerald guessed was fair since it wasn't like anyone actually lived here. It was mostly just a storage locker with a desk and a fan, and Oum was the foreman using every inch. The place was cluttered with stacks of paper, binders and books. Emerald had to be careful not to trip over anything and cause an avalanche as she walked to the desk.

More papers littered the desk with most being request of export and pay calculators for employees. Just a bunch of daily management stuff. Then there were two drawers on the side of the desk. The top one was locked, but it only took Emerald a few second to pick it. Surprisingly, the top drawer held a handgun and an entire box of ammo. Even stranger was how shinny and clean it was, telling Emerald it hadn't been bought too long ago. It didn't look like it had even been fired. What could have spooked the foreman enough to get him to purchase a gun? Also, keeping it in his office instead of his house or carrying it with him? Did he expect to need the defense here? Could he really be drug dealer?

Emerald shut the drawer without touching anything. It wouldn't help to increase his paranoia, and ultimately, his reasons for buying a weapon had nothing to do with them, unless he had bought it to deal with some unnatural creature, but Emerald doubted it.

The bottom drawer was unlocked although it obviously wasn't intended to be. Looks like Emerald wasn't the only person interested in the foreman. Someone had smashed the bottom drawer lock instead of subtly picking it. This drawer contained papers too important to risk being lost to the endless piles outside. It was stuff like insurance and contracts. There was also one large book, that Emerald pulled out.

It turned out to be the company leger. Some of the pages had tears on the side like someone had squeezed too hard and ripped a part of the page out. Even with her lack of knowledge on accounting or financial statements, there were a few things that jumped out. Once or twice every week the foreman recorded an expense of exactly 83.79 lien. The fact it was label addition expense while everything else was given a specific reason made it pretty obvious that the foreman was buying something personal.

So, the foreman was stealing money from the lumber yard. Interesting but once aging not what she was looking for. Emerald hoped Jaune was having better luck than her.

* * *

"So, you really run this place all by yourself?" Jaune asked Lily while they sat by the warmth of the fireplace.

"I've told you that my mom's the one who really runs the place," Lili giggled. "I just help her out. This place isn't that big and it never gets really busy so the two of us are enough to keep it running."

"Still that's amazing. You're only a little older than me and already carry so much responsibly."

"I'm not that great. I was just born into this role. I didn't do anything to deserve it unlike you who carved their own path and became a huntsman. I'm jealous."

"Didn't my partner already spill the beans? I'm not actually a huntsman. Apparently, I wasn't cut out for it." That's what Beacon and his dad had told him, hadn't they? No place for dreamers or hard work. You were either born with the skills of a huntsmen or you weren't. "Do you want to be a huntress?"

"No, not that," Lily replied leaning her elbow on the table, "but I want something more than this. Here, you only have two choices. You either work at the lumber yard or become a shopkeeper. There's nothing else. I'm going to be stuck running this inn until I die and pass it onto my child just like my mother's going to do to me and just like her mother did to her."

Jaune could relate. He had left his hometown for similar reasons. What he was looking for just wasn't there. It must have been even worse for Lily since her village was a lot smaller than his and she didn't have a huge number of siblings to make sure that your life never got stagnate. "You want to go to Vale?"

"I do," Lily said quietly like it was a taboo, "but there's no way my mom would allow it, and we don't have enough money for me to live in Vale even if she did."

"I probably shouldn't be the one to say this since it's still not quite working out for me, but sometimes you've just got to listen to yourself instead of everyone else. If you really want to go see Vale, you should despite what the consequences may be. The worst that can happen is that you'll have to come back. Opposed to me where the worst-case scenario was getting devoured by a grimm on the first day of Beacon, or getting arrested for trying to get in by not too legitimate means, or getting my new friends killed because I was too weak to fight properly. Now that I think about it, there was really only one situation where I got in and my life didn't end in disaster. Maybe I dodged a bullet by getting rejected."

Lily mood lit up after hearing that and they both shared a laugh. "When you put it like that, it does sound like I have it way easier, but even so, I just don't have the courage you do. I don't think I could just dropped everything and go especially since my mom would be on her own."

"I'm not saying you should," Jaune reassured her, not wanting to make it seem like he was trying to convince her to abandon this life. "What you call courage is what everyone else in my family calls idiotic and they're probably right. I left with only the barest of plans. I had thought about it for a long time, of course, but that didn't include the actual execution or backup in case anything went wrong, which it certainly did."

"Do you regret it?"

"I'll put it this way, every day I thought about leaving and didn't I regret more."

Lily took a moment to think about that, her eyes closing and a dream like expression appearing on her face. "You know despite everything I say, I love this town. It's quiet and peaceful and all my friends are here. I could easily imagine myself happily spending the rest of my life here but…"

"But something's drawing you elsewhere," Jaune finished. "I know the feeling."

"More like something's pushing me away." Lily hesitated to say any more, but seeing that Jaune wasn't going to say anything, she continued. "The truth is the inn isn't doing that well. Even with the small scale and no real employees, Bury just isn't popular enough to have it. Most people just camp outside the walls instead of spending money on a room."

"I guess, Emerald and I aren't really helping with that."

"No, don't worry about that it's not like I'll lose any money by housing you. The cost would be the same either way and this way I have someone to talk to. It just disheartening to put your all into something and see it wasting away because of things you can't control. I want to work hard. I want to help as many people as possible, but Bury just isn't big enough for it."

Jaune felt for Lily. It was exactly what he had gone through. How many times did his dad tell him to drop his dream of becoming a hero? How many times had he nearly listen only to come back the next day vowing to achieve his dream until the day finally came were he made good on that promise. Jaune Arc was stubborn, and possibly a little screwed up in the head, for leaving everything behind to chase a career that would likely get him killed, and then take up a, arguably, more dangerous path when he hit a roadblock that couldn't be overcome with sheer will. "Well, maybe one day you can make it big enough. The nice thing about dreams is they never go away as long as you chase them."

* * *

"So, that's what I figured out. What did you discover on your end?"

Emerald and Jaune were in there two bed room, graciously given to them by, discussing the progress of the day.

"Well I discover more about myself," Jaune replied, not able to look at Emerald. "Bury also apparently has a killer ice cream shop."

"You just talked to Lily all day, didn't you?" Emerald said not at all surprised. Seriously Jaune was just too childish sometimes.

"Don't get all high and mighty with me! You talked a lot, but in the end, you didn't find anything either."

"At least I was looking."

"Doesn't matter this is about results not effort."

Emerald gave a blank look. "Alright then oh wise one. What do you suggest we do?"

"We spend the night here and, in the morning, we go back to Vale because unbelievably this really dose just seem like a normal town."

"Because you're such a good judge from all your time coped up in this inn."

"I'm open to any counter evidence," Jaune suggested. Emerald kept her mouth shut. "As I thought. Tomorrow we go back home and report that the town is absolutely fine and something else must have caused the huntsmen to disappear. Now if you'll excuses me, it's been a long day and I get to sleep in an actual bed tonight."

"You're telling me. It feels like this day has gone on forever," Emerald said lazily getting in her own bed.

* * *

Jaune felt like his head only just hit the pillow, but he must have been asleep for a while because it was completely dark out when he woke up. He must have slept with his mouth opened because his throat felt like a desert, and now he desperately needed a glass of water.

Reluctantly throwing the sheets off, Jaune got out of bed and opened the door to the hallway. There was a sink in their room but no cups, so Jaune would have to go all the way downstairs to get one. He was already dreading the journey.

One step at a time he made his way to the lower level. Instead of the roaring fireplace, the room was lit up with the rays of the moon. There was a water cooler by the breakfast buffet table and Jaune half tripped over himself to get there. His tired mind tried to work through the process of getting a glass of water. Alright, hand holds cup like this. Water goes in the cup by pressing down on this. Now don't miss your mouth.

Jaune, maneuvering through the mental gymnastics, managed to get the cold liquid down his throat. It was a relief and help to wake him up a little. Now his vision was a little more than blurry colors. He could actually make out general shapes enabling him to pinpoint the stairs back to his room.

Walking like a normal human, he had just passed the counter when he stepped in something wet. _Damn, did I just spill my water?_ Jaune looked down at the floor to see how much of a mess he made only to see a pool much larger than his cup could have made. The color also wasn't right, and it felt stickier than it should have. Jaune forced his sleep deprived mind to bring focus back to his vision, and what he saw jolted him awake.

Behind the reception counter, face up in a pool of her own blood, neck sliced open, was Lily's corpse.

Jaune screamed.

* * *

Excerpt from the book

 _Magic exists in two basic forms; internal and external. Humans, with the expectation of some very special people known as wizards (in my opinion they shouldn't be considered human), can't use internal magic. Humans simply don't have the capability to do so. We must relay solely on the external word for our tricks and traps. While there is no explicit practical differences between the two forms there is a big applicational difference. External magic must always be cast through a filter or lens. Internal magic can be cast by the user themselves without any need for outside tools. Both types have their advantages and disadvantages. Internal magic is far easier to use, which is why creatures who can use it are more dangerous than those who can't. The downside is that unlike external magic, which can be used indefinitely as long as the environment can support it, internal magic will eventually run out. The three wizards, once a dominate force on Remnant, are now mere shells of their former glory. Sadly, trying to run an internal magic user dry is unfeasible. The wizards' reserves lasted thousands of years, and they could very much be on the lower end. Also, an internal magic user always has the ability to use external magic as well, although it must be quite hard for them since only one of the wizards was able to make an effective switch. The other simply banished himself to solitude (possibly dead) after his final curse, and the other integrated himself into regular society determined to destroy his foe not matter the cost._

* * *

 **An: I'm curious to see what kind of predictions I'll get from this chapter as to what is actually going on in Bury? I left a couple hints so we'll see what people think.**

 **Fun fact, in the original draft for this chapter, back when I was doing fourth wall breaks, there was going to be a moment where Janae demanded to know why Emerald was so nice to Cinder in Cannon and so mean to him, leading Emerald to be very confused. I thought it was going to be a really funny scene and you don't know how much restraint it took me to not put it in, but I'm mentioning here so we'll call it even.**


	8. Chapter 8

**An: Sorry this chapter took a little longer. I don't have a set schedule for when this story releases because I know I'll never be able to stick to it, but I try and make sure I don't go more than 10 days without updating, but sometimes I just hit a scene where I have to beat my head against a wall to figure out how it should play out. Thinking about writing this story always makes me so happy and excited, sitting down and actually typing it not so much.**

* * *

This couldn't be happing. It had to be a dream. Any second now, Jaune would wake up from this nightmare and Emerald would tease him mercilessly for screaming in the middle of the night. He would even be okay if he wet the bed as long as this would all just go away.

Jaune didn't know when he had moved, but he found himself on his knees, his hands warped around Lily's throat trying to keep anymore blood from spilling, for all the good that would do her. She was just so pale, and combined with her white dress, she already looked dead.

She was dead.

Clear tears mixed with the red liquid as Jaune tried desperately to save her.

Frist, he needed to stop the bleeding.

No!

First, he need to get her breathing.

No!

First, he needed to restart her heart.

No!

First, he needed…first, he needed…he needed…needed…

Jaune's hands moved along Lily's body aimlessly doing nothing more than smearing blood over here dress. It was like his body had been overloaded with all the signals his brain had given it and was now just performing the basic movements. It wasn't until something grabbed his shoulders that his mind and body reconnected.

"Jaune, what happened!" Emerald said shaking him out of his stupor. He wouldn't go as far as to say he could think clearly, but he was at least consciously aware. Aware enough to bring his shaking hands to his face and see the red smears they had become.

"She's dead," he said, clenching his hands and watching the blood leak out from between his fingers. "I couldn't save her."

"Jaune," Emerald said with a hint of sadness and guilt as she pulled him away from the body. "There wasn't anything you could have done."

"If only I had realized sooner. Gotten there faster."

Emerald pulled a chair out from under one of the tables and had Jaune sit in it. He did so without ever taking his eyes off his hands. "There wasn't anything you could have done, trust me. I've had a rough life, so I've seen a few corpses in my time, and she's been gone for a while. We were both sound asleep when this happened."

"We should have heard."

Emerald grabbed Jaune by the cheeks and made him look her in the eyes. He tried to turn away but her grasp held firm. "Look at me! You have to get a hold of yourself. We came here expecting the whole village to be mass grave. Were you not prepared to see some bodies?"

"This is different. I talked with her. She was here and then…"

"And then she wasn't," Emerald finished, releasing Jaune's head from her grip. To his credit, he didn't go back to looking at his hands or Lily's body. He only slumped forward like a puppet with its strings cut. "Listen, I know it must be hard. Seeing someone you know always is. You can detach yourself from death if you only see the aftermath because from your perspective corpses are always just that, corpses, but it's harder when you know the life that was snuffed out. Lily and you had a connection even if it was minor, you witnessed the life she had and what was lost when she died, but you can't shut down. I'm sorry, but this isn't a normal situation where you can take the time to mourn and fall into despair. Lily was murdered and her killer is still out there in a town where three huntsmen have gone missing. You have to be on the top of your game because I'm pretty certain this wasn't just a robbery gone bad. Whatever we were trying to find here just made its first visit."

"Then this is our fault?" Jaune said, slipping deeper into his slump.

"Get your head out of your ass. You really think that we're that important. If this was directed at us, the killer wouldn't have stopped with the receptionist. It would have come for us. Whatever did this was either targeting Lily specifically, or it was a random attack, and I know which one I've got my money on. How many more people do you think will die if we don't do something? How many people have already died?"

Jaune couldn't help taking a quick look at Lily's body. Was Emerald right? Was Lily's death and them being here nothing more than a coincidence? Who could say, but in either case whatever had done this was going to kill more, be it an attempt on the two of them, or other random townspeople. When Roman had given him that book that started it all, he had written down three things, the last of which flashed in Jaune's mind like a beacon.

 _It can always get worse._

That could not be allowed to happen.

Jaune rose to shaky feet. Emerald was absolutely stunted that he had gotten up and looked ready to catch him, but he did not fall. Instead he walked all the way over to Lily's body and dropped to his knees once again. "What are you doing?" Emerald asked.

"My job," Jaune replied. He looked at Lily, really looked at her this time. His eyes were still lined with tears and his body trembled to its core, but now all delusions were brushed away. Lily was dead and nothing could be done to save her. "We came here to investigate, so that's what I'm going to do."

"But, do you know anything about performing an autopsy or handling a body?"

"No, but I have to learn something because this is going to be my only chance." Jaune braced himself as he observed Lily with a critical eye doing his best to shut his emotions anyway. It didn't work out too well. He could still see the beautiful smile she greeted him with and his anger flared with he looked at the empty, motionless face she had now. From lost playground to lost life, it certainly was a big step up.

Jaune didn't need any medical degree to tell what Lily's cause of death was. Her throat had been slit wide open, not torn or ripped with claws or anything of the like but cut, probably with a knife. An odd choice for a supposed otherworldly assailant, but the misfit had used a knife along with nails to attack so that didn't really mean much. The other thing of note was that Lily was wearing the same dress she had been wearing all day which meant she probably hadn't changed to go to sleep. She must have been killed soon after he and Emerald went to their room. Was it possible the killer had been waiting for them to leave or was it just luck? How intelligent was it? Did it even have to be a creature's doing? Right not, there wasn't any solid evidence that unknown forces were at play. A human, or something that could pass for human, wasn't out of the question. In fact, why was Lily out here in the first place? Surly, if something was trying to kill her, she would have run into the backroom and locked the door, not just stand behind the reception desk, and why hadn't she screamed? Emerald had heard Jaune's scream and come down, so they should have heard her if she did. Had it been a sneak attack? Did she not notice until it was too late, or had the attack just been that fast?

So many questions, so many empty leads. How was Jaune supposed to figure out anything. He had a whole town to consider with every normal method being a possibility along with every supernatural method. He would have already called Roman by now, but his scroll wasn't getting a signal, so even his trump card was out of play.

Jaune's fingers grated the wood below him. He was angry and out of ideas. Emerald was right in that he couldn't afford to do nothing, but the drive was quickly wearing off. The Jaune who forged his transcripts might have said there was merit in never giving up, but be it by choice or circumstance, if he didn't get any results, it was all the same.

"So, what's the plan?" Emerald asked as Jaune got to his feet.

Jaune turned towards her, unable to keep the tears of his failings from falling. "I wish I knew."

* * *

Jaune sat in probably the most uncomfortable chair in all of Remnant, in the building that served as Bury's patrol center, the closest thing a frontier town had to a police station. Emerald had been adamantly against Jaune contacting them, sighting that they would obviously be treated as the primary suspects, and it wasn't wise to trust anyone in the town right now. Jaune wasn't just going to leave Lily's body there, however, and he thought that if they didn't say anything they'd be subjected to further restrictions and scrutiny. Not good since Emerald was a lifelong thief and the both of them had just robbed a museum.

Eventually his will had overridden hers and they got in touch with the village patrol. Oddly enough, while Jaune's scroll wasn't able to get any reception, the inn's desk scroll was still able to make local calls. Just another oddity that he didn't have an answer for.

True to Emerald's prediction the patrol had immediately brought them here for questioning and searched their room. Of course, they had been asked to relinquish their weapons, something that took more than a little coaxing to convince Emerald to do. They were each placed in a separate room and interviewed, Jaune only after his investigator nearly died of a laughing fit after seeing his onesie.

With everything that had happened, he had forgotten he had been wearing it, and he couldn't help but feel that Emerald had neglected to mention it as some sort of payback for calling the patrol in the first place. Jaune would have to get rid of it later, and not just because it was stained with blood. Luckily, they had been nice enough to let Jaune change into his actual clothes which only earned another round of laughter when they saw his hoodie.

Seriously, what was everyone's problem, Pumpkin Pete was cool.

The questioning was a pretty standard affair after that. The investigators having already mostly made up their mind after seeing how distraught he was at Lily's death and his choice in clothing. Still, despite all their fun at Jaune's expense, it was clear that they were deadly serious about solving this cause. The patrol men who arrived at the scene looked just as horrid and disgusted at the innkeeper's death as he had. It gave him confidence that this wasn't a town wide conspiracy. They asked him about everything he knew or thought he knew. He tried to answer as best he could, but he knew his information was severely lacking. He couldn't actually suggest a supernatural motive or a creature of the unknown world.

When the questioning was done, they told him he could wait in the lobby for Emerald if he wanted, no doubt she was being far less cooperative than he had, and that the only thing he couldn't do was leave the village.

While he waited in the lobby he poured over his journal, which he had gotten back along with his backpack, trying to find anything that would help him find Lily's killer. Jaune was tired from the night being cut short but at the same time felt it would be impossible to go to sleep. It helped to plow through his journal, but it quickly became apparent that without more clues he wasn't going to get anywhere.

Eventually, Emerald walked out and took a seat next to him. She did not look happy. "I'm guessing they didn't give you back you weapon either," she said.

"No, they said they had to look at it to see if it was the murder weapon."

"Same here, but we both know that they won't find anything on either of them." Jaune gave her a skeptical look. "Stop that, I know what I am but I'm no killer."

"I didn't think you were, but can you really tell me that those blades haven't seen at least a little human blood in their life?"

Emerald had the decency to look a little embarrassed. "If they find anything I'll say it was for self-defense, it wouldn't be a complete lie."

"I guess," Jaune replied.

Emerald noticed the emptiness of his response immediately. "Jaune, are you doing alright?" she asked shifting her cold, irritated mood into a soft, calm one.

"I'm fine," Jaune said.

"You're clearly not," Emerald said putting a hand on his shoulder. They might not be the best of friends and did more arguing than talking, but Emerald wasn't about to let him waste away. "You're still thinking about Lily, aren't you?"

Jaune put his journal down, letting Emerald clearly see his puffy eyes and wavering mouth. "How couldn't I be? She's dead. I'm trying to move forward like you said, but every time I close my eyes I see her." Jaune choked up and a few tears ran down his cheek. He quickly rubbed them away with his sleeve like Emerald would think he was unmanly if she saw them. "I don't think I told you this before, but up until now everything has kind of felt like a game. Nothing I did felt like it had stakes. Sure, I got hurt and I put myself in some danger, but it never really felt like it. Slaying monsters and learning magic was fun; consequences and hardship would be way off into the future. At higher levels you might say, but that was idealistic, wasn't it? The world isn't like a video game. There isn't a nice little path you get to work up fighting harder enemies and making tougher decision as you go. Dire consequences can appear anywhere at any time, sometimes you aren't even aware till it's too late. Ha, what kind of hero am I? The first time someone needed my help, not only did I not show up, but I was happily sleeping away the night. My mom was right, dreams really do end up turning into nightmares."

"It will get better," Emerald said, awkwardly rubbing Jaune's back like she had seen some parents do to their children when they were upset. She could remember how badly she wanted that when she was still a child. There had even been a time where she had asked one of the older boys if he could do it to her. He punched her instead, and that was the last time she asked for anything.

"You said you'd seen bodies before. Did you lose someone?" Jaune said not noticing what Emerald was doing. "Does it really get better?"

Emerald turned away not wanting him to see the complicated look on her face. It had been a long time since she thought about that. She hesitant to tell him, but the way he was reacting to her sudden silence told her he needed to hear it.

"When I was young," Emerald started, "like really young, before I even knew what it meant to be a street rat, an older girl, probably a little younger than we are now, took me in. If it hadn't been for her I doubt I'd be alive. She taught me how to survive on the street. How I had managed it before I had no idea. Sometimes I think my parents, whoever they are, just dropped me off on the side of the road hoping I would die from the elements. I'm getting off track, the point is, I wasn't the only one that this girl had taken in. There were probably a dozen others that she had picked up along the way. We lived in this little alcove in the industrial district with pieces of cloth strung up as a roof. I remember thinking it was the lapse of luxury at the time. This girl, Robin, was very kind and took care of us. She taught us how to steal, lie, beg, and even fight. We were able to do pretty well for ourselves because of her and I become one of her most frantic admirers. Every time she chose me to go with her on one of the riskier jobs I would become overwhelmed with happiness. I really thought we were friends."

"I'm guessing this story doesn't have a happy ending," Jaune said in a somewhat apologetic tone. It felt like he was hearing something he shouldn't be despite Emerald talking directly to him.

"No, it doesn't. The first thing you have to know about the streets is nobody is just nice. There can be kindness but it's always in I'll scratch your back you scratch mine kind of way. Of course, I didn't know this at the time, but Robin wasn't picking kids off the street out of the goodness of her heart. She was gathering recruits. She was trying to build an army that would be completely loyal to her. Her hope was that some of the kids she integrated would prove to have untapped potential. Most other groups only took in people that already proved themselves. Robin's planned to find them earlier. The problem was the more people you have in the group the more mouths you have to feed and for every promising child she acquired there were five other unimpressive ones. It's like we were trading-cards and she was trying to build the best deck. I was one of the promising ones so she kept me around."

"What happened to the unpromising ones?"

"They would go out with Robin one day and never come back 'lost on the job' as she would put it. Pretty blatant looking back, but when you were a kid with no one else to depend on you took for granted all the "accidents" that happened. I was with her for about two years before everything came to light, in the worst way possible. One day the leader of a rival group came knocking. It wasn't unusual for another group to attack you either to take you territory or send a message, but this one was different."

"Sounds like the mafia," Jaune commented.

"We weren't even close to them. The mafia's an organized crime syndicate. To them we were just children fighting on the playground. The only difference was that these playground fights had real stakes and there were no adults to call stop when blood starting spilling. Anyways, it was clear from Robin's and the rival leader's interactions that they knew each other. Whatever their exact relationship was I never learned, but they didn't part on good terms. He had come only to make Robin suffer. It was from him we learned about Robin's true nature. Half of the group turned on her right on the spot and with our sudden loss of numbers it wasn't much of a fight."

"You stayed loyal to her?" Jaune said, shocked.

"It must sound completely insane to you, but Robin was my friend and even if she was just using me for her own gain that was just the way of the street. I might sound cruel but as long as she didn't hurt me, specifically, I was with her. Most of her favorites thought the same way and tried to protect her. Sadly, in our blind loyalty, we didn't think things through. Seeing the writing on the wall Robin used us as bait to flee. I can't even explain what I felt after finding out. It was like part of myself had vanished." Emerald took a deep breath and composed herself to finish the story. "It only got worse from there. The man who attack us absorbed our group into his own. He claimed he was the illegitimate child of a Vale council member and demanded everyone call him Sir. He had a pretty similar style of leadership to Robin, but while Robin was kind and hid her intentions, he was brutal and open with his plans. His only form of testing was ring fights. Put two people against each other and whoever was standing at the end was the winner. I and the others who stuck with Robin got it particularly bad. He forced us to fight every other day against people we had no chance of beating. In fact, my first fight was against the man himself as a punishment for supporting Robin and letting her get away. I tried my best, but it was as much a show of force as anything else. He wanted to make it clear who was in charge now that Robin was out of the picture. You see one of the ways he was able to convince people that he was the son of a Vale councilman was the fact he had his aura unlocked. I don't think I would have been able to beat him even if he didn't have it, but since he did, I didn't stand a chance. He finished the fight by dislocating my shoulder."

Emerald rubbed her forearm as if she was reliving the pain and Jaune felt sick just hearing about it. "Is having aura really that uncommon?"

"Yes, aura can only be unlocked by someone else with aura and only huntsmen and law enforcement are supposed to have it. That said, the rich and famous usual have theirs unlocked for protection, or social statues, or just because it helps you look younger. Most normal people never get a chance to have theirs unlocked and the fact he had gave him credibility."

"But, why doesn't everyone have their aura unlocked? If it makes them stronger and safer than wouldn't the council want that. A lot less people might die of grimm attacks if they had it."

"The reason not everyone has their aura unlocked is because as you know it doesn't just work. You have to learn how to us it, some people might get themselves into even more danger thinking their invincible. The other reason is that the people who do take the time to learn how to us aura properly are probably the people who aren't going to use it for the best reasons. Combine that with the fact a single aura user can unlock the aura of any other number of individuals you would see a huge spike in crime. It's one of the reasons Junior's gang is so feared because he unlocks the aura of everyone who joins him, cooks excluded, apparently." Emerald jabbed. "The last reason, but probably the most important, doesn't actually have to do with aura itself but a byproduct of having it. If you have aura you have the potential of gaining a semblance and the damage a population could do if they were allowed to run around with undocumented and unrefined superpowers would be catastrophic. Just imagine what would happen if a kid got angry in class one day and unlocked his semblance that just so happed to be able to spew magma everywhere."

Jaune shuttered at the thought especially after imagining what his sister might do if they had any special powers. The world probably wouldn't be able to survive. "I see what you mean, but then how did you get your aura?"

"I'll get to that," Emerald said looking away from Jaune as she continued the story. "The time I spent under that man was the worst time of my life. I honestly thought it would be better to die. It was day in and day out of torture. I got it particular bad because I always had to fight boys and like it or not without aura to equal the field boys are just physically stronger than girls especially when that girl was half-starved. In a stupid way, though, I was lucky. I would get beat and hurt, but it would seem even in that hell hole chivalry wasn't quite dead because my opponents never took it to the extreme against me. The same couldn't be said for the other guys who had tried to defend Robin. It wasn't usual for their opponents to take it a step too far. When that happened, it was up to the rest of us to dispose of them. It wasn't long before I was the only one left. I knew that the only way to survive was to throw myself in front of the boss and beg him to unlock my aura so I could "help" him. Against all odds, he agreed, I just needed to do things for him first."

"What did you have to do?" Jaune asked.

That was clearly the wrong question since Emerald tensed so hard that Jaune could feel it through his seat. Her jaw locked and her finger dug into her palm so hard they drew blood. "It doesn't matter what he made me do! The only thing that matters is he kept his promise in the end. He unlocked my aura, probably thinking that even with it I wouldn't be much of a threat to him, unlucky for him my semblance just so happened to be a perfect escape plan. Not able to trust groups anymore and scared he might track me done if I did, I became a loner thief. Not the best when the streets revolves around favors and manpower but I made it work. Oddly enough, a couple years later, I was reunited with Robin. She was dead, tossed in a ditch like garbage, but it was definitely her, and you know what even after everything I went through because of her, I still cried." A single tear ran down Emerald's cheek even now. "So, to answer your question, it does get better, but you'll never forget. Not about any of them."

Jaune couldn't believe it. He didn't know what to say. After what Emerald had just told him, it made his despair for a girl he hadn't even know for a full day seemed childish. What did he know about loss? What right did he have to sit here and cry when Emerald had lost so much more so much sooner? "Emerald, I'm so sorry." Jaune tried to put his own comforting hand on her back, but she stood up before he could.

"The looks on your face tells me that you think I'm the one who needs sympathy after all this time despite what just happened to you."

"But—"

"No buts, I didn't tell you all that to compare pain. I told you so you would realize that you're not alone. Everyone has gone through hardships. To some it might seem like a trivial thing, like losing a favorite stuffed animal, but it doesn't matter because at the time the pain is as real as it will ever be, so don't be thinking that what you're going through is dumb just because it's not as blood filled as mine. Become stronger for your own sake, not mine."

It felt wrong to do so, but Jaune chuckled. After everything that had happened it felt good to laugh. Lily was gone and it was awful, but it wasn't the end. "Thank you, I really needed that."

"No problem." Emerald smiled. "Now, I'll ask again. What's the plan?

Jaune stood up feeling almost normal. "I think the first order of business is to make me stronger. Would you mind helping me out."

"Mind? I'm going to love every second of it."

* * *

The sound of fist meeting face shook the air as Jaune fell to the dirt, again. Emerald stood above him, sweating but without as single mark on her. "Care to try again?" She said that every time she beat him to the ground, and every time he got back up, rubbing his sore and bruised body.

"Is this really the best way for me to learn? I don't feel like I'm getting any better." They had been at this for hours now, so long that the night had long since ended. As much as Jaune would have liked to chase the monster that had killed Lily, he realized that not only did he have no idea how to track it but he would probably die himself if he did find it. He needed to get better, and if that meant letting Emerald beat on him all morning, he would accept it. However, if Emerald was just doing this for fun, he was going to be pissed.

"Of course, you're not getting any better. Aura isn't something you master in a day. It's going to take a while for you to learn how to make it work for you."

"Shouldn't I get a theory lesson first? You just brought me out here and started hitting me."

"Trust me this is the fastest way. Aura isn't something you can explain. It just has to come to you. Think of it like the skin of your soul."

"That the vaguest thing I've ever heard!" Jaune argued back. Emerald took his yelling as a sign he was good enough to go another round and quickly rushed him. Jaune had no hope of getting his own attack in, so he was completely on the defensive. Emerald was moving slower than she normally would, for his sake, but she hit just as hard. Sometimes he was able to block with an arm or a shoulder, but without being able to activate his aura it hurt just as bad. The worst part was that he didn't feel like he was making any progress. There was certainly something there, flowing inside him, but how to make that come out and protect him was an insurmountable problem.

He hit the ground, again. "Care to try again?"

Jaune wished he could use his aura to cause his glare to burn right through that irritating smirk. "I think it's time I called it quits. It won't matter how good my aura gets if I can't move afterwards."

"I understand," Emerald said offering a hand to pull him up. Jaune was a little afraid to take it, considering the likelihood of it being a trap to teach him to always be on his guard, but since he didn't think he'd be able to get back up on his own, he didn't have much choice. "For the record, you lasted a lot longer than I thought you would."

"Thanks," Jaune replied halfheartedly, not feeling like he had exceeded any expectations. "I'm going to take a look around the town. If I can't exercise my body anymore I'll exercise my mind. Maybe I can find a clue or figure something out."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

"It's okay, I would rather have the time to myself."

"Are you sure? There's still a killer on the loose."

"I'll be careful, but I'm sure it will be fine. There would be much more of a panic if people were dying in broad daylight."

"I guess," Emerald relented.

"I'll meet up with you later," Jaune said leaving the small patch of forest they were training in.

Once he was out of Emerald's sight, he stopped and doubled back around making sure to watch out for his partner. He hadn't lied to Emerald about what he was doing he just had to do something else first.

He found a clearing that would be perfect. Dropping his backpack on the ground Jaune pulled out his chalk and journal. Emerald's story and getting beat around had dulled the pain, but Jaune had not forgotten. Jaune got started on his etch, marking the outline in green. It was by far the biggest he'd ever attempted, larger than him, and would be a lot more complicated as well.

It took about forty-five minutes to complete, having to fix mistakes as he went, but when it was done a new scene rose from the ground. A garden of flowers, bushes and vines grew large and proud. It was far from prefect and was more a mash of random colors and foliage. Obviously etches weren't made to spawn instant gardens, but using some notes Jaune had managed to jury-rig a work around. Already some birds and insects were coming to investigate the sudden change.

Jaune might not have been able to save Lily but he could still do something for her. If a garden in her honor was something she would have wanted or even liked, Jaune had no idea but it was the best he could do. He bent over and plucked a flower from the new garden the same color as Lily's hair. "A beautiful garden for a beautiful girl."

Bury was running the same as ever when Jaune made it back to town. The news of Lily's death must have not been revealed yet. It might seem dangerous and cruel to keep that information locked away, but in a small town like this, it was best to deliver information slowly lest people start to panic and attract the grimm. It wasn't right, and Jaune hated the policy, but sometimes it was better to keep people ignorant of danger than force them to face it head on.

It was why he wasn't surprised to see the Wood Mill Inn without any yellow tape or roadblocks. Condemning the place would be a pretty bad way to keep a secret. Jaune only planned to walk up to the porch and leave the flower at the front door, but when he got there he saw the door was slightly opened.

Surly the patrol had locked the place, but a quick push to the door showed it was, indeed, unlocked. The thought of going inside and placing the flower on the reception desk overtook Jaune's mind, but at the same time he was very reluctant to do it. Could he really go back in there and see where she had died? He was finally starting to recover, and he didn't want to make it worse.

Jaune step in, anyways. His legs were shaking and his heart was pounding, but he would see this to the end. Lily deserved it.

Jaune didn't know if he was expecting the Inn to look like a haunted tomb, but just how normal it looked caught him off guard. The nice atmosphere was still there and everything looked the same. Actually, everything felt a little too normal. Why were the lights on, and why was the fireplace lit?

"Hello there," a young girl with blue hair said, "welcome to the Wood Mill Inn. How can I help you?"

The flower dropped from Jaune's hand as he looked at the impossible. "L-Lily, you're alive?"

"Um, do I know you?" Lily asked, her head tilted in confusion.

"It's me, Jaune." He said talking a couple steps forwards. It was defiantly her with that white dress and gorgeous smile. "Don't you remember? You checked me in yesterday and we spent a long time talking."

Lily took a few steps back clearly nervous about his approaching presence. "I'm sorry, but you must be mistaken. We didn't have any guests last night."

"That can't be. Look I even have the room key to prove it." Jaune quickly reached into his pocket to get it only to find it wasn't there. He looked back up at Lily, who had moved even farther away from him.

"I'm sorry sir, but I've never seen you before in my life."

* * *

Emerald was hungry, a bad thing since she didn't have any money to pay for food. Luckily this had been a common problem throughout her life and she knew how to fix it. Ever since she had moved in with Jaune she hadn't needed to pickpocket money, but she made no promises that she wouldn't and what Jaune didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

She was stationed at a busy road looking for a good mark. Picking a mark was an art form. You couldn't just steal from anyone. Any mistake would cost you dearly so it had to be perfect. Kids and teenagers were easy target almost never paying attention to what was happing around them, but they usually didn't carry a lot of money if any at all. Their parents were too aware always looking out for threats to their kids, or an approaching thief. The prime target would be alone, usually male and usually in a rush, or distracted in some other way. Bonus points if they were drunk but it was too early in the day for that.

It was these people Emerald kept her eyes out for. There was man in a suit with brown hair who looked promising but then he started hitting on some girl. She would probably notice if Emerald tried anything. She could put an illusion on both of them if she had to, but that was a risk that really didn't need to be taken. Another man, probably in his late fifties, walked down the street with slumped shoulders and a pissed mood. He would have been good, but he kept nervously looking at the crowd around him like he was waiting for one of them to jump out at him. A woman this time was looking at a store window completely obliviously to the world. Emerald started walking towards her thinking she found her mark, but then an employee came out to greet her. It was while Emerald was walking back to her lookout point that she saw a perfect target. An overly large man yelling at some teens to unload a cart faster.

It didn't even take a minute, Emerald walked over very casually, made a pass behind him, and was suddenly in the possession of a brown wallet. Then she ducked into a nearby diner and took a seat. A quick glance under the table showed that there was more than enough lien for a meal. "Excuses me," Emerald said, wavering a waitress over, "can I have the turkey sub and a salad?"

"Of course, I'll get that right out for you."

"Thank you very much."

Emerald past the time by looking out the window and watching the people go by. She wondered what Jaune was doing and if she should be worried about him. It would be really bad if he got killed or hurt, and not just because she would lose her benefactor, but because she would feel a little guilty. Maybe she should have called there training session early. He hadn't looked too good by the time he called it himself.

"Here you go," the waitress said setting the food down in front of Emerald, letting the delightful smell hit her nose.

 _Ah, Jaune's probably fine._

Emerald reach out to that beckoning sandwich, but just as her fingers grazed the bread it disappeared.

Her sandwich just vanished along with her salad. Emerald quickly looked around the diner to see if she was just crazy or anybody else had seen her food be vaporish in an instant. Nobody did, but there was something a little more concerning to Emerald.

The whole diner had shifted. There were different people in different places. A waitress caught the look on Emerald's face and walked over. "Is everything okay? Have you ordered yet?" It was the same person that had served her not even a second earlier but her hair was done up slightly different and her uniform was a little bit cleaner.

"Yes, I have," Emerald said, not knowing what to do. The waitress accepted that answers and left. Something was wrong, everything felt different. Emerald didn't know how it felt different but it did. She needed to find Jaune. Emerald reached into her pocket planning to put some money on the table to make it look like she didn't just run out, but the wallet she had stolen wasn't there either.

She had no choice but to leave the diner only a moment after she entered. Once she was out on the street it was even more apparent that something was amiss. It was still Bury and people were going about their day like normal, but it wasn't the same scene she had looked for her mark in. Everything was different but at the same time familiar. It was a bustling outdoor market. A woman in a bright yellow dress was buying some food from a vendor. Kids were drawing pictures of grimm with sticks, in the dirt street. An apple fell from a food cart and was quickly snatched up by a teenage boy with curly orange hair. "Boy you better get back here, or I'll spank you so hard you wouldn't be able to sit for a week!" The boy's father yelled from a nearby house.

Emerald breath caught as she realized that she had already seen this before. Quickly she located the same metal merchant she and Jaune had talked to when they first arrived. He was in the exact same place with the exact same items for sale.

He smiled when Emerald walked up which was already a bad sigh. After what she said, he shouldn't have been very happy to see her. "Hello there, I see my fine collection has caught your eye. Can't say I'm surprised. I am the number one salesman in the town!"

"What's todays date?" Emerald asked harshly.

"Well, I believe it's the 12th of May…um, is something wrong"

Emerald had gone completely pale. It looks like they had finally found the problem with Bury. May 12th had been almost three months ago. Around the same time Bury had gone dark.

* * *

Excerpt from a book not yet written

 _I have taken it on myself to put together the story of that time. After all history is the backbone of all caretakers' work, without it we would never improve, and what better way to spark the creative musings than memorializing them. In the summer of that year, there were a serious of events that at first were completely unrelated, but would set the stage for things to come. While each of them would be important in their own right, it was the fact that they all happened in such a short period of time that gave them their historical prominence. The attack on the Fall Maiden, the betrayal of Blake Belladonna and Adam's ensuing rage and grief, Weiss Schnee's abandonment of Atlas Academy for Beacon, Torchwick's crime spree, the end of that unsavory business in Bury (chapter 9), and of course, Ozpin's offer to the sliver eyed child soon after. It is rare for people of such character to be brought into existent and allowed to expressive themselves. It is even rarer for so many of them to share a generation. It is unbelievable that all of them would gather in one place. I don't like to think about alternated histories since they are pointless, but even I give in into my curiosity and wonder to myself what would have happed if Ozpin had gone with his gut and accepted the caretaker knight into his school._

* * *

 **An: I wonder how many people think this twist came out of nowhere, it wasn't exactly anyone's first guess, but if you go back a chapter and pay attention to mentions of time and the position of the sun throughout the chapter you may find some rather odd inconsistencies.**

 **As for Emerald, she is given her spotlight and a backstory. It came out a lot darker than my original plan and it made me question if I should change the rating of the story, but I think it will be okay. It does help to explain why in this universe Emerald didn't join Cinder. She had already gotten burned with Robin and didn't want to go through the same thing again.**


	9. Chapter 9

Emerald found Jaune, sitting on the front steps of the Wood Mill Inn, after running all over town for him. He had a very intense look as he stared at the dirt road in front of him. "I'm guess you figured it out too," Emerald said taking a seat next to him.

"Hard not to when someone you thought was dead is walking around like nothing ever happened."

"So, Lily is alive. At least something good has come out of this."

"Yeah, I'm relieved. I came on a little strong, though, so I don't think we'll be getting another free night."

"Due to the circumstances, I'll forgive you," Emerald said, putting her elbows on the next stair back in a more relaxed position. "Did we really just go back in time a day?"

"Not just a day," Jaune said. "I checked my scroll and while it still can't make calls the clock still works and it a little more than three hours ahead of what the time is here. I just didn't notice before."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that this isn't the first time we've jumped back."

"When could we have done that?"

"It could have been when we were sleeping but my bet is that it happened right when we first entered town. I remember thinking I saw the sunlight shift, but it happened so quickly that I thought I was just tried after our hike."

"Now that you mention it, I do remember thinking that it got a little hotter when we showed up and the town was a little more active than it should have been for that late in the day."

"I was thinking the same thing. It's because we hit the mid-day rush despite us getting here around 3:00 according to our timeline. Which means this reset isn't just a onetime thing. It's probably been going on for a while, if that term even means anything anymore."

"The merchant I talked to said it was May 12th, so I have to agree."

"Great," Jaune spat, "so we weren't just sent back a day, we were sent back months."

"So, what we're going to be forced to repeat today for the rest of our lives. Can we even age while we're here?"

"About that," Jaune said holding out his arm for Emerald to see, "see those bruises?"

They were barely noticeable and if Jaune hadn't pointed them out Emerald would have missed them completely. She could even see them shrinking slightly as his aura healed him, that part Jaune didn't have to learn, but it would probably go a lot faster if he could direct it. "Yeah, what about them?"

"They're from our spar earlier." Emerald gave him a look that told him that was obvious. "A spar that we haven't technically had yet," Jaune clarified.

Emerald's eyes widened. "Your injuries carried over."

"Exactly, and it's not just that. I used quite a bit of chalk earlier, but when I looked at it just now, the length I used was still gone. On the other hand, the blood on my pajamas," Emerald snorted thinking about that stupid onesies, "was gone, so it's not so much that we went back in time, but the town around us did."

"So, it's only the town that's affected, not us or even the stuff we brought with us."

"Looks like it."

"Don't see how that helps us get out of this situation, though. That just means that not only are we going to have to repeat the same day, but we're going to grow old and wrinkly while we do it."

"But it does help us. It means that we're outside all of this. We can change things."

"Still, it doesn't matter if it just gets reset in the end."

"But does it have to?" Jaune said, smiling. "Every movie I've ever seen about time travel never has the characters reliving a perfectly average day. If we're stuck in a loop then today must be significant, and I don't know about you but I can only think of one event."

"I'm concerned that you're putting your faith in movies. Do you really think that preventing Lily's death with fix it?"

Jaune shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know but I want to save Lily anyways. I failed her once. I'm not failing her again."

"I guess we better go retrieve our weapons, then." Emerald said ready to reunite with her babies.

* * *

"What do you mean you don't have them!" Emerald growled at the patrolman, who not too long ago, or never depending on your perception, had questioned her about Lily's murder.

"I'm telling you we haven't confiscated any weapons especially any weapons of huntsmen quality."

"You do have them you just don't remember taking them so go look!"

"I did," the patrolman shouted back. "We did not take your weapons so please leave the premise miss, or I'll have to detain you. Emerald's eyes grew even redder, but she did what she was told and left, slamming the door when she did."

"Looks like that theory is out the window. Apparently, our things are affected." Jaune said, sadden by the loss of his sword but nowhere near the full-blown rage Emerald was in.

"No way, that's bullshit! The guy was probably just too lazy to go and check. Well, I'll show him. I'm going to go get them myself." Applying her semblance, Emerald went back into the patrol center.

She came out around twenty minutes later completely downtrodden. "Didn't find them?" Jaune asked just to make sure Emerald was still able to communicate.

"No, I checked everywhere but they weren't there. Do you know how much those are going to cost to replace?"

"Relax, we both know who you're going to make fit the bill, and you're lucky. My weapon was a family heirloom so it can't be replaced." Jaune didn't even want to think what his dad would say if he found out.

Emerald huffed knowing there was no way Jaune had enough money to buy her another weapon. She knew it had been a bad idea to call the patrol. "Putting aside my monetary loss, we've lost the only way to defend ourselves. That doesn't bode well for hunting down a killer."

"Don't you know hand-to-hand?" Jaune asked sounding hopeful.

"I do, but only the basics."

"Could've fooled me when you were beating me around the forest," Jaune said, feeling his pride take a hit.

"That just because you couldn't put up your aura. If you had, I probably would have had a lot harder time bringing you down. A pickpocket needs to be quick and agile. Getting into a straight forward brawl means I screwed up."

"And I'm only left with my etches, which take too long to use in combat. We've been severely handicapped."

"You're telling me," Emerald huffed. "If this is how it's always going to be then I would like to reconsider our partnership."

"You came out here on your own!" Jaune harshly reminded her. Not that he wasn't grateful. If she hadn't come along, he probably still be in shock from Lily's death, and then died of a heart attack when she revived. "If we can't fight the killer head on then we'll just have to ambush it. We know when and where it's going to strike so it shouldn't be too hard. My etches will be a little more effective then, and your semblance will be a huge help."

"I don't know how comfortable I am leaving my safety in your hands. Also, my semblance might work on humans and grimm, but who knows if they'll work on these other creatures. There's no telling if their minds work even remotely similar to ours."

"You'll be fine," Jaune said taking joy in ignoring one of Emerald fears for once. "Besides, I'll be there to protect you."

"My hero," She said, rolling her eyes.

* * *

The Wood Mill Inn was dark and quiet as Emerald watched Lily clean the reception desk. The illusion Emerald had placed on her would keep her from noticing anything suspicious. A good thing too because without it there would be no way to hid the colorful etches Jaune was crouched over, ready to make the last stroke on any of them at a moment's notice. She really hoped he knew what he was doing because besides him the only thing Emerald could defend herself with was a knife she had stolen from the small kitchen in back.

The time was approaching an hour before midnight and it looked like Lily was about ready to call it a night, so her killer would have to be here soon. The thought that the two of them booking a room had somehow initiated the attack had crossed Emerald's mind, but having more people in the inn should have only deterred the attack. Maybe the killer hadn't known she and Jaune had been there or just didn't care.

Minutes ticked by in the dead silence. In such a small town, there wasn't even any background noise. Emerald didn't know how Lily could put up with it. She would have gone insane—she _was_ going insane. It didn't matter who the killer was at this point she just wanted it to show up.

As if answering her cries, the front door opened. What walked in was not an abnormal creature of impossible description or an unholy beast of destruction, but a normal middle aged man. Granted he looked furious, but if this was their killer than all these perceptions had been completely unnecessary. Emerald was pretty sure Jaune could beat him down with his untrained aura if he had to.

A quick glance to Jaune showed he was just as confused as she was. When Emerald motioned if they should do something, Jaune shook his head, wanting to wait it out just to make sure they weren't missing something. Emerald knew the important of not running in without all the facts so she stayed where she was. They would have to move soon, however, the strain of keeping her illusion up for so long, and now having to add a second person, was getting to her.

It was like watching a scene form a movie. The man, who looked oddly familiar to Emerald, walked to the reception desk in measured steps. "Mr. Tan, hello," Lily said. She sounded nervous. "What brings you out here?"

"Aren't you supposed to say, 'how can I help you?' That's what you say to all you other guests. Why am I getting special treatment?"

"I'm sorry," Lily backpedaled, "how can I help you?"

"You can start by sending a message to that bastard," the man seethed.

"I don't know who you're talking about."

"I'm not here to play games. You can play dumb if you want, it doesn't matter. My life's already over. As long as he gets the message and knows that it's me that sent it, everything will be fine." The chill to his voice and the knowledge of the future caused Emerald to jump into action. The man pull a knife out from the back of his pants, that had been covered by his shirt, and quickly slashed towards Lily neck. Emerald was nearly there about ready to stop the same events from playing out, but just before she made it, Jaune came out of nowhere and tackled the man to the floor. Lily screamed and Emerald quickly picked up the drop knife while Jaune and the would-be assailant struggled on the floor.

Jaune was younger, bigger and stronger so he was quickly able to pin the man's hands behind his head. "What the hell do you think you're doing!" Jaune shouted.

"Get the fuck off me! You don't know anything," the man yelled back.

"I know I'm stopping you from killing a sweet girl."

"Sweet? She ain't nothing but a money grubbing bitch! She'd sell her mother for a couple of bucks. Probably already has."

While Jaune and the mysterious man were arguing, Emerald went over to Lily who was rightfully frightened after her attempted murder and the sudden appearance of two strangers. "Calm down, we're not here to hurt you."

"Who are you people, and why did he just try to kill me?"

"That's exactly what we want to know, and hopefully we'll all get the answers we're looking for."

The man beneath Jaune had run out of breath after his brief struggle and was now panting for air, but before Jaune could interrogate him, the front door to the inn was kicked open as two men appeared, guns raised. "This is the Village patrol! Nobody move!"

Everyone froze, not so much because of the order itself but because of their sudden arrival. The two men scanned the room and Jaune felt a little awkward as they landed on him pinning a man, who was probably more than twice his age. One of the patrolmen stepped forward. "Lily what's going on here? We got an anonymous call that something was going on."

Lily tried to turn her head in every direction at once probably trying to figure it out the same thing. "Mr. Tan came in here and started yelling at me, and then he pulled a knife. He would have tried to kill me if these two haven't come out of nowhere and saved me."

"And why were you two here?" The man said while his partner came to relieve Jaune of Mr. Tan.

"We were hoping to book a room when we walked in on this," Emerald covered, looking a lot paler than normal.

"Didn't the two of you come to the patrol center earlier today talking nonsense about some weapons?"

Sweat trickled down Jaune's face, and Emerald's eye twitched. "We're really sorry about that," Emerald said in her fake childlike tone, "A friend had told us that they were there, but he had lied. Our weapons aren't actually getting here till tomorrow so that's why we need to get a room."

The patrolman looked at her suspiciously, but didn't push as Mr. Tan was brought to him in cuffs. "And you, why'd you attack Lily?" Mr. Tan stood there silently, just glaring at Lily. "Just can't make it easy for us, fine. Lock him up in the patrol center, I'll stay back and ask the questions."

The man's partner took Mr. Tan away while the Patrolman interviewed all three of them. They were pretty basic questions and pretty soon he let too seemingly more concerned with the paperwork this was going to cause than the attempted murder, but Jaune guessed from his point of view nobody got hurt so there wasn't any real danger. If only he knew.

"Thank you, for saving me," Lily said, still a little shaken. "I'm sorry for telling you to leave earlier."

"Don't be," Jaune said recalling their pervious interact, in this timeline at least, "I was out of line. I was going through some things at that moment."

"Well, I'm still sorry. You said the two of you needed a room tonight? How about I give you one, free of charge, as a thank you."

"Sold!" Emerald said way too quickly.

"Then let me go get your key," she smiled.

Once she left the table, Emerald leaned over to Jaune. "Clean up you're etches," she hissed. "Keeping that illusion on four people at once nearly killed me."

For the first time Jaune noticed that Emerald was panting slightly. "Is it really that bad?"

"Considering I had already been using it on Lily to cover your sorry ass, and then had to suddenly place it on three extra people, yes, it hurts like hell. Now hurry up." Felling his self-preservation kick in, Jaune moved to get some water and a cloth.

"Where'd Jaune go?" Lily asked when she came back with the room keys.

"He just had to use the bathroom. I'm sure he'll be back soon," Emerald said trying to fight through her massive headache. Unbeknownst to Lily, Jaune was only a few feet away furious scrubbing the chalk lines out of the floor. "Lily, I know it might be tough to talk about, but why do you think that man would attack you."

"I already told the patrolman that I have no idea. I barley know him, the only reason I even know is name is because his wife compla—talks about him so often." The slip of the tongue was obvious. "Listen, I'm sorry I should be here to entrain you, but after everything that's happen, I'm really tried, and I have to work in the morning, so I'm going to bed. Please tell Jaune that I really am thankful." Lily pulled away from Emerald as fast as she could and went into the backroom.

"She's hiding something," Emerald whisper just in case Lily could still hear her.

"Cut her a break," Jaune said getting up from the now spotless floor, "she was almost killed. She's not thinking straight."

"Precisely why it was so damning. She accidently let the truth slip out. If only we could have questioned Mr. Tan."

"I refuse to believe Lily is doing anything wrong. She's so nice and sweet. She's let us stay here for free twice now."

"You know how they saw the quiet ones are always the kinkiest. Well something I've learn is the nice ones are always the likeliest to stab you in the back."

"Now everyone grew up in your environment. Regular people don't try to get a one-up on everyone they meet. They can be nice just for the sake of being nice."

"Believe what you want, what she's hiding isn't what I'm concerned about. That anonymous phone call those patrolmen got."

"What about it?"

"They didn't get one the last time this happen," Emerald said taping her finger on the table.

"Isn't that just because we were here. Someone must have heard the scuffle," Jaune suggested.

"Really? In the brief moment between you pinning Mr. Tan to the ground and the patrolmen showing, someone was able to contact the patrol center, tell them what was going on and the patrolman were able to run over here? I don't think so."

"The call could have happened sooner. They could have seen Mr. Tan acting suspicious and reported it."

"Then it would have happened last time, which we know didn't because you were the one to find her body."

"Then maybe it was something we did. The butterfly effect, you know. Arguing with the patrolman about the weapons could have put them on edge making it more likely they would take an anonymous call more seriously."

"Possibly," Emerald concede, "but I'm not willing to drop my guard so easily."

"So, what do you think?" Jaune said throwing his hands up. "That there's something else out there that is making changes to the loop?"

"You're acting like that's impossible, but we have no idea how this loop works, and there also the fact that three huntsmen came here before us, none of which we've been able to find."

"Are you suggesting that one of them could be screwing with us?"

"I'm just saying that it's not impossible, and it doesn't have to be them. What's to stop one of the otherworld monsters from being able to mess with the loop, or it's the thing doing it in the first place. This might all just be a trap."

Jaune couldn't argue that. There was no telling what the previous visitors had done when they came here. "Let's not jump to conclusions. If there really is something messing with us, we'll deal with it then. For now, all we can do is wait and hope that preventing Lily's murder was the way out."

* * *

Jaune and Emerald were out training the next day, which just meant Jaune getting punched over and over aging, waiting for the possible reset. Emerald had told Jaune they should do this every day for him to master his aura as soon as possible, but even Jaune could tell that was only half the truth.

Emerald had gotten pretty wound up last night. Jaune didn't think she caught a moment of sleep with her brain being piled high with endless theories. She was mainly here to calm herself down, beating him down probably gave her a sense of control. Personally, Jaune thought she was getting too paranoid even for this situation. Just because anything could happen didn't mean it would. The unknown world did follow rules, as flimsily and illogical as they might be. Odd how he had broken down over Lily's death and not over the potential lifetime spent repeating the same day.

Still, this wasn't something he could really fight her on. Paranoia might just save their lives. If anything, Jaune should be more cautious, but from the few jobs he had gone on, he had learned that you couldn't really predict what you were going to face, at least not at his level. Worrying about every possible variable would only lead them astray and, eventually, to a dead end.

Emerald landed a particular brutal blow to Jaune's gut and sent him falling to his knees. Aura proficiently was still a distant dream. "We should call it here," Emerald said pulling Jaune up, "isn't it about time for the day to reset?"

Jaune checked his scroll. "About an hour although hopefully there won't be one at all." The two walked back to town, Jaune taking them passed the place where he had made that garden in Lily's honor. Just like their weapons, it was gone. Strange since the flower he picked from it had still been in his hand when the reset occurred. Could what gets reset and what isn't have to do with physical contact to them?

They arrived in town and just loiter the street until a couple second after 11:43 when the town shifted. Jaune hadn't seen this the first time and it really was as strange as Emerald implied. It was like someone had snapped their fingers and everything teleported but the motion continued.

"Looks like stopping Lily's murder didn't do anything," Emerald observed.

"Admittedly, it was long shot, but I didn't have any other ideas," Jaune said.

"What we going to do now? We're back a square one."

Jaune scanned the town taking in the familiar sight and the familiar actions. "We do the same thing we did last time, investigate and look for clues." Jaune turned to look towards the edge of the village and saw the path that he and Emerald used to originally get here. "Wait here for a second, I'm going to go look at something."

"Look at what exactly?" Emerald asked, following him as he made his way to the town walls.

"I want to see how far this effect goes."

"The effect of what?"

"The time loop. It only just occurred to me, but this loop can't cover the entire world. We never would have been able to get here if we kept repeating May 12th. I would still be a home and you'd still be Vale. Time has to be moving forward somewhere."

"But what if coming to Bury did this? We could have been shoved into our own little timeline where we're forced to repeat the same day, but time for anyone who didn't come here moves normally."

"It might be, but my book said that alternate dimensions don't exist, something about gods not needed to fight if they did, and I'm pretty sure timelines separate from the main one would count. If you right, though, then we can just head over to Vale and I'll ask three-month younger Roman for help. If I explain how I'm his appreciate from the future and show him the book he gave me, I'm sure he'll help me out."

Emerald stopped in her tracks and stared at Jaune. "Roman? Do you mean Roman Torchwick?" Her hands balled into fist and her eyes seemed to glow red. "The man whose crime spree has made the police force double their efforts over these last few months, and nearly forced me into starvation because of it. Are you saying he's your boss?"

"Have I not mentioned that…" Jaune didn't even think of explaining how none of that was his fault or how Roman wasn't technicality his boss. Jaune had seven sisters, he could see where this was going, so instead of subjected himself to Emerald's unjustified rage, he ran as fast as he could.

In speed Emerald was far superior to him, but with the adrenaline pumping through him, and the suddenness at which he took off he had probably had gotten large lead. He didn't dare look back to confirm that, however.

Jaune only ran until his body forced him to stop, which wasn't that far. He really need to work on his cardio. Emerald had said aura would help with that, but that didn't help him now. Luckily a quick glace backwards showed that he had managed to escape Emerald although it was very possible she just hadn't crested that mound. Jaune would just have to take her fury if that was the case, but she probably hadn't bothered wasting the energy. She could just wait for him to come back.

Taking a few more moment to catch his breath, Jaune removed his hands from his knees and stood up to look just how far he ran. It came as a big surprise when the saw the town of Bury not behind him but in front of him. It would only be short jog to enter the village.

There was no way he had backtracked. He had been following the road in a straight line this whole time. He rubbed his eyes just to make sure he was hallucinating from exhaustion, but the village was still there.

There was a long moment of utter confusion, Jaune trying to reconcile just how bad at directions he was, but soon enough his rational, or maybe irrational in this case, mind kicked in. If whatever was doing this was messing with time then it could probably mess with space, too. Jaune walked away from the village once again, making sure to not make a single turn. About three minutes in the Bury disappeared from behind him and two minutes later he could see it in front of him. He walked over the same terrain as he had to leave and pretty soon he was at the town.

At least he had gotten his answer. The world outside Bury was probably working as intended, but that didn't matter if he couldn't get there. It was hard to tell at exactly what point he was turned around like he had walked into a mirror, but it couldn't be too far from the village. Good news, whatever was doing this was definitely inside the town. Bad news, he and Emerald were trapped until they could figure it out which was pretty bad, but it explained why the huntsmen had never come back. They had been trapped too although where they were now was anyone's guess.

Jaune walked back into the town ready to discuss his findings with Emerald bracing himself if she was still angry, which was likely, but surprising she wasn't there. That wasn't a good sign. He hadn't been gone that long. Had she really chased him down and gotten caught in the same spatial reflection he had. It was possible they could have missed each other because of that. Jaune waited at the town entrance, expecting Emerald to come racing into sight. Minutes passed but no green-haired thief appeared.

It was panic time. Had crossing that barrier done something to Emerald? Could she have disappeared like the garden and their weapons when he crossed? Had something gotten to her in the few minutes she was out of sight?

Jaune ran around town without any real destination. It was all coming back, Lily's corpse, the blood-soaked floor of the inn, the red hands that couldn't save her. Why was he such an idiot? He had gotten complacent after seeing his mistakes reversed. Emerald had been right to be worried. There was no telling what else this place held. He was the caretaker here, damn it! He should have been the one stressing over all the unnatural occurrences, taken the lead instead of waiting for things to happen. Now it was happing all over again, but this time there wouldn't be a do over.

Jaune was barley paying attention to where he was going, so it was inevitable he would run into someone. Thankfully, he was able to catch the women before she fell. "I'm so sorry!" Jaune apologized.

"Please don't worry about it, dear." The women Jaune had run into radiate that mature kind of beauty and power that had his heart racing. "I know how you younger folks always need to be running around or they don't feel like they're getting anywhere. Why are you in such a rush if I might ask?"

"I'm looking for someone—a girl, green hair, dark skin. Have you seen her?"

"You mean like the one behind you?"

"Huh," Jaune said spinning around. Emerald was there alright looking just as pissed as he remembered, but something was a little off. There was some sadness mixed in with it. Before he could even process what that meant, Emerald was in front of him and slapped him hard enough to make his head spin.

"Oh my," the women said bringing a hand to her mouth, "I think I should get going. I hope you two can work whatever has come between you out."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Roman," Jaune said holding out his arm in a poor attempted to keep his partner away. "I wasn't trying to keep it a secret. I just didn't think it mattered."

Emerald looked confused. "You think this is about him! Where have you been?" she screamed.

Now it was Jaune's turn to be confused. "Where have I been? I've been running around the town worried that you were in danger or dead!" Jaune yelled. 'Where have you been."

"Everywhere trying to solve this problem since you abandon me."

"Abandon you? I wasn't gone that long."

"You been missing for two days!" The utter shock must have shown on Jaune's face because Emerald seemed to calm down considerably grabbing his wrist and pulling him forward. "We'll talk about this as we walk. I can't lose that woman."

"Who is she?"

"Mr. Tan's wife."

"Why are we following her?"

"Because I haven't just been sitting around doing noting these last few days. It wasn't easy but I think I've found the root to this problem."

"Emerald I don't understand, we've only been separated for maybe an hour." Jaune went on to explain how he how they couldn't actually leave the town and what he had done when he came back to find her not there.

"That's not at all what happened from my perspective. To me it looked like you vanished the second you got too far for Bury. I thought you were dead." She sounded the closest to crying Jaune had heard her. Granted that was much, but it made Jaune flush at the thought of Emerald having even the slightest of care for him.

"I'm sorry I worried you," Jaune said as he thought about why there was such a discrepancy of time between them. "You know I didn't really think of this, but don't you think it's odd that we were only sent back a few hours the first time we entered the town."

"I haven't really giving it much though. Isn't it just because that's when the loop starts and ends."

"That's part of it, but why did entering Bury cause the loop to start over. Maybe when I went through that barrier the same thing happened. What if I was kicked into the next run of the loop, instantly, while you had to experience the whole thing, and since I went through the barrier twice, that would explain how you were able to go through two entire loops while I only felt a couple of minutes go by.

"I guess that makes senses. You wouldn't have noticed any change since you enter the barrier pretty much the same time the loop reset anyways, but why did it have to wait to send you back out. Surly it could have spit you back out immediately. Who cares if you appear right as the loop resets."

"Obviously, whatever is causing this does, but why didn't you just follow me when you saw me disappear? We would have both come back at the same time if you did, and neither of would have realized that an entire loop had passed."

Emerald rolled her eyes. "Survival rule number one, if someone appears to get disengaged into nothing, don't go to the spot where it happened."

"I feel so cared for." Jaune said. "So, what were you up to the entire time I was, apparently, nonexistent."

"A lot," Emerald replied, "in fact, I'm hoping Miss. Tan here will lead us to the end game."

"How'd you figure that?"

"Do I have a story for you."

* * *

Emerald was shaking. She had just watch her partner be wiped from existence. Looks like whatever was causing this loop also didn't want them to leave. Things couldn't be any worse. She was stuck in and unknown town without a weapon and without a plan. Whatever information Jaune had was lost with him. Emerald might just have to get used to living the same day for the rest of her life.

She loitered around the town entrance hoping that Jaune would somehow just walk back into existence and announce that he had found a way out. It didn't happen, of course, and Emerald was left to fend for herself. It was nothing unusual, but this situation was far outside her expertise. Also, she had kind of like having the dumb knight around. Everything he was thinking was plastered on his face, and in a world filled with betrayal that was a comforting characteristic.

It was while she was thinking of a way to escape she noticed a Mr. Tan walking down the street. When he attacked Lily, Emerald had thought she recognized him, but now she could remember. He had been that guy who she had nearly pickpocketed the pervious loop. He had the same pissed off look as last time.

Not having any other real lead, Emerald decide to follow the future killer. Nothing came out of stopping Lily's murder, but that didn't change the original theory. If there was anyone in this town that would be at the center of this loop it would be him.

Mr. Tan lead them to the lumber mill which was surprisingly quiet. All the workers must have been on lunch break or something and from the way Mr. Tan was nervously looking around that was planned. He was obviously not supposed to be here as he darted around the place as fast as a man in his fifties could. Their journey took them to the foreman's office that she had broken into the first day here. Emerald found it strange that Mr. Tan would come here, and found it even more strange when he produced a key from his pocket that opened the foreman's door. He seemed to get angry when it worked.

They both enter the familiar space and Emerald put an illusion on him. She had been able to tail him without one so far, but this cluttered room was too small and tight for him not to notice someone coming in after him. He went behind the foreman's desk and used the same key to try to open the desk drawers. It didn't work, so Mr. Tan switched to a more physical approach.

At this point, Emerald had no idea what to think. Mr. Tan had been the one to break into the foreman's office only a little bit before she had done the same but why? What could possibly be here that he would want?

It took an agonizingly long time, but Mt. Tan finally forced his way into the bottom drawer and pulled out the leger. Emerald didn't think she had ever seen anyone as angry as him when he looked inside. "I knew it," he growled, knuckles turning white from how hard he was griping the book.

Emerald didn't have any time to think about why Mr. Tan cared about misappropriated money because at that moment a chuck of wood, that could be found everywhere around here, was thrown through the only window the office had. It was so sudden that Emerald jumped at the sound, bumping into a stack of paper and knocking it over.

This caught the attention of Mr. Tan who turned away from the property destruction. "Who's there!" He yelled staring directly at Emerald. She was still inviable to him so there was a chance that Mr. Tan would just assume the paper had somehow been knocked over by the wood chuck, but any chance Emerald had of escaping was quickly killed when the foreman barged into his office after hearing the window being smashed.

Emerald quickly put an illusion on him too, and luckily the foreman was too focused on the other intruder to notice a tint of green disappear from his vision. "Geoff!" The foreman yelled. "What are you doing here? I told you never to step foot in here again."

"Of course, you didn't! You didn't want me to find out you've been sleeping with my wife!"

"For the last time, I've haven't been doing anything with her. You're delusional."

"Really because I just found the proof right her!" Geoff said slapping the leger on the desk.

"I don't see how the company records prove anything," the foreman said although he looked considerably more worried than he did a second ago. "I've had enough of this. I've put up with your accusations and death threats long enough. I'm calling the village patrol."

"I won't let you!" Geoff screamed, hitting the desk so hard that he actually punched a hole through it. It must have hurt but Geoff didn't seem to think about it as his eyes widen and he pulled his hand back out. It was only when the shiny piece of metal came with it that Emerald realized that he had punched right into top drawer, where she knew the foreman kept his gun. "What do you know looks like my threat did get to you."

"Now Geoff, calm down. We can talk about this. There's no reason to for things to get out of hand." The foreman's words wouldn't do a thing. Emerald could see it in Geoff's eyes. That man wasn't going to stop for anything, and as if things couldn't get any worse, Emerald was trapped between the two.

Mr. Tan leveled the gun and fired, aiming for the foreman stomach. It hit Emerald in the arm and while it didn't break her aura it stung enough that her illusion shattered. Understandably, the two men were shocked at the sudden appearance of a teenage girl between them, and Emerald used that moment to push past the foreman and run away.

She had to spent the rest of her time in hiding after that since the town descended into chaos after the news spread. Rumors and misinformation spread like wildfire so Emerald could never be sure what exactly happened after she ran, but the hunt for a green-haired girl that had run away from the crime was enough to keep her in hiding until the next reset.

Along with having to avoid the village patrol another, unexpected, problem became known. Emerald was hungry and thirsty. Not a new feeling to be sure, but whenever it had happened before the solution was always to eat or drink something. Apparently, Bury made even the most common knowledge unreliable. Emerald could eat and drink all she wanted. She could taste and her appetite would be satisfied, but no matter what she did she couldn't get rid of the gnawing sensation and she never gained any energy. Emerald couldn't even begin to come up with an answer as to why this was happing, but the consequences were easy to see. If she couldn't get out of here soon, she would die of dehydration.

Suddenly that lifetime she could spend trying to get out of here was cut down significantly. It hadn't been an issue before since most of what she had eaten so far came from what Jaune brought, which apparently acted like it was supposed to, but that had been lost along with him.

Emerald was really starting to regret getting involved with him. If he wasn't already dead she would have killed him. Should have just stay on street. At least that life was simple.

One thing she did gain from having to hide was a lot of time to think which ended up just making more questions, like who had broken the foreman's window and alerted him? That certainly hadn't happened the first time through. Emerald had almost been taken in by Jaune's insistence that the phone call was just a slight change due to something they did, but now it was clear. Someone else was here, and they weren't happy with their interference. More precisely the two incidents were trying to keep her away from Geoff Tan. Whatever was going on he was involved somehow.

When the reset happened, Emerald got to work. She went around and asked everyone she saw about Mr. Tan. Most of the people she talked though thought she was weird at best and dangerous at worst but Emerald couldn't find it ins herself to care about their opinions. If things didn't work out, they would forget about it anyways. Over the day, the information she got wasn't much but it was enough. Geoff had been married for the past twenty-four year, him and his wife were on rocky terms at the moment, and he owned a clock and watch shop, but nobody would give her the location of his shop or house, probably because they thought she might hurt him, but Bury wasn't that big. She could find it on her own, which she would have to do given how suspicious owing a clock shop was given the time loop, but first she wanted to talk to the man himself.

Searching the entire town would be a pain and would only make her interest more obvious to whatever was trying to stop her, so she settled with stalking out where she knew he would be.

Back in the Wood Mill Inn, Emerald waited for Mr. Tan so show up and murder Lily. Why he was going after this girl when his beef was with the lumber mill foreman was something Emerald still didn't understand, but it was just another question she could ask him.

The time of Lily's murder approached, then came, then passed. Mr. Tan never appeared. Another play by that mysterious someone, or a result of him hearing about someone investigating him? It didn't matter the fact was Emerald wasn't going to be able to ask him anything, but he wasn't the only one who might have answers.

Emerald eyes landed on the girl whose murder brought this whole mess to their attention in the first place as she walked into backroom for the night.

Emerald waited until morning to start questioning Lily, knowing she would be more on guard if someone just should up in the middle of the night. Emerald posed as a normal customer and asked for a room. Lily was so excited for a customer that she sat down with Emerald to talk and served her an unfulfilling breakfast. How Emerald wished her stomach would be stratified by this food, but alas it wasn't meant to be.

"By the way is it just you? We only have the standard two bedroom rooms so I hope that'll be okay."

"Yeah, that's fine," Emerald replied. Jaune was gone after all. "I'm here on a business meeting with Geoff Tan. Do you know him?"

Lily got very quiet. "Not really, he likes to keep to himself."

Emerald sighed. Looks like she would need to push a little harder. "I've heard he's having trouble with his wife. Do you know anything about that?"

"I wouldn't," Lily said getting a little defensive.

Someone kicked the front door and the man himself came walking in, looking just as crazed as he had against the foreman. "You little bitch! I know what you've done. I'm going to kill you!"

Lily fell out of her chair, panicked. "Mr. Tan wh-what do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me," He said walking closer. "I'm going to make you pay for what you did."

Lily was nearly crying at this point and tried to back away but Mr. Tan was coming in fast. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Lily repeated. Her pleas didn't do anything to stop and when he got close enough he pulled out a knife ready to start stabbing.

Lily screamed and put her arms over her face. "Alright, I think that's enough," Emerald said. Mr. Tan disappeared as she stopped the illusion. "Now, are you ready to tell me the truth?" Emerald asked the very shaken girl.

"I already told you—" Lily stopped when Emerald glared out her making it clear she wouldn't accept any lies. "Mrs. Tan and the foreman of the lumber mill are having an affair," She admitted. "You have to understand we weren't doing anything wrong."

"And what was it that wasn't wrong?"

Lily titled her head to the ground like she was about to tell about her most embarrassing secret. "This inn isn't doing too well. We hardly have and guest and even with the lack of staff we're having trouble staying afloat. My mom's actually in Vale right now trying to negotiate with a bank. When the affair stated, Mrs. Tan and the foreman needed a place where they could…you know, so we made an agreement. My mom and I would provide a room and kept everything a secret as long as they paid for it."

Everything was starting to make senses. Well, not in the sense that it should've driven Mr. Tan to killing her just for her participation, but that guy was obviously already very unstable. "Okay, I have two more question and then I promise I'll leave you alone and you'll never have to see me again. What does Mr. Tan wife look like and what's the price to rent a room for the night?"

If it was even possible Lily managed to look even more guilty. "I have a picture. I thought I could use it as blackmail if things ever got really bad and a room here costs 83.79 lien."

Bingo.

* * *

"Emerald! That was cruel."

"Stop being a wuss. I needed to get that information and Lily wasn't going to give it unless I scared her a little."

The two of them had followed Mrs. Tan to her husband's store. A sign that read "Time keeps on ticking" was hung outside. Emerald and Jaune waited around a few minutes before going inside. When enough time passed for them not to appear suspicious, they walked inside to see the couple chatting. When Mrs. Tan saw them enter, being the only customers in the store, she put her and on her husband's shoulder and whispered, "we'll talk about this later. You're worried about nothing." She kissed him on the cheek and left.

"What can I do you for?" Mr. Tan asked trying to sound polite, but even a child could tell he was furious." The store itself had clocks covering every wall in every style imaginable. Every single one of them was running.

 _Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick._

Emerald wondered if it was listening to this noise every day that made Mr. Tan go crazy. "My friend and I are here looking for a very unique piece. Possible one that can do a little more than tell time."

"I don't know where you think you are, but this is a clock store. They do one thing and one thing only. If you want something more go buy a scroll or a computer."

"That's a shame."

"If you're not here to buy anything then I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I have an errand to run and I really need to do it soon." Mr. Tan practically pushed them out of the store, closed it, and walked off in what was probably to go raid the foreman's office. At least, he thought he did all of those things.

"Your semblance is just too good," Jaune said to Emerald as they stood in the store not having moved and inch.

"That along with everything else about me. Now, let's get going whatever is causing this loop must be somewhere in here."

"If it is than this is going to feel really anticlimactic," Jaune commented as they spotted some stairs in the back.

"For you maybe, but I've been working two entire days for this."

"But, I'm supposed to be the one solving these problems. You're my assistant."

"Then you shouldn't have disappeared for two days."

Jaune could only mutter about life being unfair as they walked down to the basement of the store. It was a workshop of some kind with metal and spring tossed round on two different tables, but all that came second to what was in the center of the room.

"I'll told you it would be here," Emerald gloated.

"We don't know if that's it!" Jaune said trying his best to act like he had contributed.

"Seriously?" Emerald said rolling her eyes.

In the center of the room was a pocket watch suspended from the ceiling with a long chain. It was swinging side to side like the pendulum to some bigger clock. The clock itself was bright gold with a black and silver clock face. Instead of the normal set of hands this clock had four hands in total. One pair was stuck firmly at 11:43 while the other pair was keeping track of the regular time.

Jaune had to admit defeat. "Fine, this is it, but how are we going to stop it?" Jaune pulled out his notebook to see if he could find anything similar to this, but Emerald, not one for subtly, walked up and smashed.

Suddenly it was as if the room had turned into a wind tunnel. Nothing was actually being thrown around or moved but it sure felt like it should. Jaune had to clutch his note to his face just to stop the feeling of his eyes being pressed back into his skull. All the while a voice could be heard throughout the room.

" _It's not enough. It's not enough. They haven't paid nearly enough. Ruined my life. They need to pay more. I want a repeat. Do it again and again and again and again and again. I won't let them get away with this! Daisy why? I loved you! How could you do this to me. Again and again and again and again. I will make this work I promise."_

Then as quickly as everything began it stopped. Jaune pulled the notebook away from his face to see the new state of the workshop. Most things hadn't changed, but there was now a thick layer of dust and a badly decomposed body in the corner, making Jaune jump when he saw it. It was more bone than flesh but from the tattered cloths it was wearing it had clearly been Mr. Tan. The swinging pocket watch was gone. Not even the smashed bits remained.

"Emerald! What is wrong with you? Going up and breaking the magical item is not the default strategy. We could have died, or gotten caught in a time paradox, or been force to relive the loop forever with no way out, or—I don't even know what could have happened to us!"

"Listen, I am sick, tired and hungry! I wasn't just going to stand around and wait for you to calculate the speed of its swing."

"I still have a few granola bars if you want them," Jaune said reaching into his backpack. He nearly lost his hand for that.

After Jaune reprimanded Emerald for nearly using his hand as emergency food, the two of them went back upstairs to see the town. It wasn't good. Bury was desolate. Everything was overgrown with plants and the bodies of residents were laying in the street. "What's going on?" Jaune asked as he looked at the horrid scene. "We fixed it."

"We did, but not for them."

"Lily!" Jaune remembered. He ran to the Wood Mill Inn as fast as his legs would carry him. The door literally fell over when he opened in it, and inside was a cold dark place. Plants had started to grow through the floorboard, dust covered every inch of the place and Lily body was behind the reception desk. Like all the others she was more of a skeleton than anything else, but Jaune could still make out where Geoff Tan had slit her neck. Jaune couldn't find it in himself to cry. He just stood there looking at the person he couldn't save, and never would have been able to.

"Looks like we found our missing huntsmen," Emerald sighed having come in some time after him. Jaune looked to the common area and saw two more corpses one was bent over a table and the other was leaned against a wall. They weren't as decomposed as the other bodies, which made Jaune want to vomit, but the complex weapon by each of them made it clear who they were.

"They weren't able to break the loop," Emerald said walking right up to one of them and examining the weapon. "I'm guessing the third one is somewhere else. Poor guys they walked in here without a clue. They must have been terrified when they were faced with something that wasn't grimm."

"Did they starve to death like what was happing to you?"

"Possibly but whatever was trying to stop me could have gotten to them." Emerald reached into the huntsmen's pocket and pulled out a stack of lien.

"You're going to steal from them?"

"We need the money."

Jaune didn't like it but he had to admit Emerald was right. "Fine, but only the lien. I don't want to take anything that might be personal."

"Deal." Emerald and Jaune spent a couple more hours in the town. Emerald was the only one who looted anything, Jaune couldn't bring himself to do it. It was only when they searched the patrol center and found their weapons there that Jaune could feel ever the slightest bit happy that they chose to stay. He just wanted to go back to Vale and forget this ever happened.

There was some small talk between them about what they thought they should do but they eventually settled on doing nothing. Vale or Mistral would send someone eventually and they could discover it for themselves. Whatever had tried to hurt Emerald hadn't done anything since they broke the watch, so it probably wasn't around anymore or died when the watch broke.

As they prepared to leave Jaune went over to where he had made a garden in Lily's honor. Just like their weapons the garden was now back, growing steadily. Feeling like he needed to do one last thing Jaune got a small log from the lumber mill and placed it in front of the garden writing "Rest and peace, Bury" in white chalk. In the end, they hadn't saved anyone probably had never been able to in the first place. Bury was dead long before they got here.

Jaune would never forget what happen here. It was sad but perhaps this was a lesson best learned early. Not even heroes can do the impossible, but you still had to keep moving on, and that's just want he planned to do. The world wasn't going to stand still because of this. The next incident was just around the corner, and this time he'd be prepared to face it.

* * *

A mysterious figure watched the pair of outsiders leave his town. The figure sat on a nearly collapsed balcony eating a can of fruit. "Jaune and Emerald," the figure said to himself, "they sure were an interesting pair. Sucks that they ended the loop, but no harm no foul. It was an amazing experience, and I was running out of food anyways. But what to do now? From how those two were talking it seems like the old man isn't the only one who stumbled onto something like this. I wonder how far is goes." The figure toss the can of fruit and stood up catching the backsides of the travelers right before they were out of sight. "I hope we see each other again. I'd love to compare notes."

* * *

Excerpt from the book (Jaune's notes)

 _The Bury Clock didn't so much as send us back in time but put a filter over the current time. We might have been repeating the same day but it wasn't technically real. Whatever happed the first time around is the one that stuck. It's why that even when we prevented Geoff Tan from activing the Bury Clock the loop still repeated. It would seem once activated the clock has to be physically destroyed to stop its effect. It was also the reason that you could starve to death despite eating. It's because you weren't really eating anything. Imagine this, a person eats and apple and then the day resets. They eat the same apple, and their mind tells them they have eaten the apple, but in the "real" time the apple has already been eaten, so it doesn't actually exist, only the illusion of it._

 _The other thing of note about the Bury Clock is how it resets things. It appears to remove anything that wasn't part of the original cycle and sticks it in the "real" timeline, but it doesn't do this to anything that could cause change in the time loop, people or anything in their immediate possession. How it can determine this is unknown. Corpses and items outside the changer possession are removed and can't be recovered until the loop is broken at which point anything that was changed inside the loop will appear in the "real" timeline. For example, if you build something, with martial that you brought in from outside the loop, it would disappear on the next reset, but when the Bury Clock is destroyed the structure would still exist where you had built it as if it had been made outside the loop._

* * *

 **An: I thought about breaking this chapter into two, and looking back I probably should have just so I could have gotten it out at a more reasonable time, but I didn't think it would be a good idea to have Jaune and Emerald wander around Bury for another two chapters.**

 **Honestly because of it being basically two chapters in one I'm not overly happy with it. Especially with how I handled all of the effects of the time loop, like the barrier that kept Jaune from leaving. I definitely should have introduced a lot of this stuff earlier, and I thought about cutting some of it out just to keep from rambling, but I ended up decided that it was better to have it in and it be a little rough than not having it explained at all. It got a little cluttered and confusing because of that, but maybe that's to the stories benefit since not everything is supposed to be super clear.**

 **Anyways, let me know what you think with the completion of the Bury arc. New chapter isn't really part of an arc and it more of a transition chapter but we're going to be moving into more familiar territory so I hope everyone's excited.**


	10. Chapter 10

"Emerald come look at this."

"This better not be stupid."

"Would it kill you to show a little excitement?"

"Fine, let's see it," Emerald said getting up to sit cross-legged on the bed. Jaune made a goofy smile before holding his hand out in a way that made it look like he was holding a book by its spine. A second later a book, his journal specifically, appeared in his hand. "Is that it?" Emerald asked, unimpressed. Jaune held up his finger telling her to wait and then slammed the book shut and it disappeared again.

Emerald rolled back onto her stomach, face pressed against her pillows. "Come on that was cool!" Jaune complained.

"Is that what you've been working on since we got back?"

"I don't think you appreciate just how hard this was to do. I moved my journal to the Apeiron, tie it to a motion so that I could retrieve it and then did the whole thing in reverse so I could move it back."

"So, you spent days creating the same trick that a street magician can do with a blanket and a quick hand."

"This isn't a trick," Jaune said getting actually mad. "It's real magic."

"I'm just confused as to why you felt the need to send your journal into an alternate realm."

"Let's see," Jaune said pointing to his fingers. "I don't have to deal with the weight, I can't lose it, and it can't be stolen by dirty street rats!"

"Oh, bringing out the naughty words," Emerald teased. "Better be careful your mom might rinse you mouth out with soap if she heard. Can you do that little trick with anything besides your journal?"

"I'm working on it," Jaune said rubbing his hair in slight embarrassment.

"So, you've spent the last couple of days saving yourself the backbreaking labor of carrying a one pound book?" Emerald said giving him a look that was far to similar to the look his mom gave when he hit his sisters or did something else wrong. "You could have been looking for a job."

Oh yeah, that. Jaune was unemployed again. Turns out disappearing for a week without calling your boss was a no-no in the work world. His groveling had saved him from being the target of Junior's deadly wrath, but it hadn't saved his job. It was a good thing that Emerald had taken the money from Bury, or they would have been in real trouble. They were okay for now, they had even bought a few things for the apartment, Jaune finally had a bed (air mattress) again, but their funds wouldn't last long.

"You know you could look for a job, too." Jaune said.

"Known thief, remember. Besides I'm the stay at home mom, you're the bread winner." Emerald snickered as she watched her lava lamp.

"We aren't married, and we certainly don't have a kid," Jaune pointed out.

"Minor details."

Jaune gave up as he collapsed on his own bed (air mattress). Seven sisters to practices on and he still couldn't win these fights. How she could say stuff like that with a straight face was beyond him. Still, this setting was much preferable to Bury. It felt like it had just happened but had also been forever ago. A part of him wanted to think that Emerald was bricking with him to keep his mind off what had happened, but with her that seemed like reaching.

"We can't just sit here waiting for something to happen." Jaune said.

"I agree, money isn't going to fall out of the sky."

"Not that. Our other, more important, job. If we're only reacting to strange occurrences we'll always be a step behind. I don't want there to be another Bury that we were far too late to save. We need to take the initiative."

"How do you plan on doing that? It's not like these things broadcast their location."

"I know," Jaune said trying to think of a way around that problem. "Hey, Beacon starts tomorrow, doesn't it?"

Emerald groaned. "Don't even mention that. The town can't shut up about it. I'm sure you've seen all the stores dressing themselves up to try and attract all the incoming students. They do it every year but this time it's especially bad since Pyrrha Nikos well be attending."

"Is she really that famous?"

"Only to those who enjoy bloodspots where all the blood and danger has been removed for light taps and fancy twirls, and boys who like seeing a pretty girl in a skimpy skirt. I'm actually surprised you don't know her. You do wear her sponsor's brand religiously."

"You mean Pumpkin Pete. Wait, she's the girl on the cereal box! That's awesome."

"Sure," Emerald said clearly not as enthralled by the cereal mascot as Jaune. "Why do you care about Beacon's start date. You got rejected, remember?"

"You don't have to keep bringing that up!" Emerald just smirked. "Anyways, think about it. Tomorrow a whole bunch of students with huge dreams and unrefined powers will be gathering in a place that was built to teach them how to hone their skills and fight the creatures of grimm. If there's any place a supernatural even is going to occur, I bet it's going to be there."

"That's not a bad point, but this has been happing ever year for nearly a century and Beacon's still standing. Also, if something does end up happing, what could the two of us do that the students and staff couldn't?"

"I'm not saying this is a definite plan of attack. It's just a suggestion of something we could do. It beats sitting around here and doing nothing."

"If you're not going to look for a job, I guess we might as well."

* * *

Jaune expected something more. He thought there would be crowds of cheering people as they congratulated the next generation of huntsmen and huntress starting their education. Instead, there was a simple line of tired and wary teens as they were checked into one of the many airships that would take them to Beacon. Apparently, any students coming from other kingdoms would be brought to Beacon directly instead of having to come here first, so there weren't any journalists trying to get pictures of the invincible girl.

Jaune used his hand to cover a yawn and smacked his lips together when it was over. In actuality it wasn't that early, around 7:30, but it was at that prefect school time that just made you want to crawl back into bed and get one more hour of sleep. Jaune wasn't the only to feel the fatigue. He saw quite a few students nodding off as they wanted for their name to be called.

"How are we supposed to get into Beacon?" Emerald asked, not as tried as Jaune since she was probably used to having to get up early, but it seemed she was growing drowsy just from watching him and the other low-energy students.

"Can't you just use an illusion to make us fake students?"

"Not on this many people I can't, and even if I could, don't you think they would notice the inclusion of two extra people."

"Then we're going to have to get in a different way. Beacon isn't just the school. The CCT tower is also there, so that must mean Beacon is somewhat open to the public. Let's go see if there's a commercial flight."

Turns out there was, one leaving every fifteen minutes to be exact. The security was also pretty lax. They didn't even ask them to remove their weapons, and barley even looked at Emerald's illusionary ID. Getting into Beacon probably wasn't that strict a process since everyone there were more than capable of taking care of themselves. Still, it did seem a little strange that anyone could just walked into the home of the world's future defenders.

Jaune and Emerald boarded a cramped bullhead that was filled with a couple business men and family members of current or incoming students. The moment the bullhead took off Jaune felt his stomach churn, his motion sickness reminding him why he didn't do this often.

"Are you okay?" Emerald asked suddenly very worried about the proximity between the green faced man and herself. "You're not sick, are you?"

Jaune tried to tell her but stopped when the feeling of something working its way up his throat forced him to push it back down. This did not go unnoticed by Emerald, who looked around to see if there were any other available seats. Seeing none, she started rubbing Jaune's back. "It's okay big guy just relax and hold it in. You don't need to worry about anything."

To Emerald's relief, Jaune did not spill his guts on the bullhead although he did dry heave into a trashcan when they landed. "Sorry," Jaune said when he was positive his stomach wasn't trying to eject anything within it, "I get motion sick."

"I caught on," Emerald replied, looking out at Beacon's lush landscape. It was so much different from anything in Vale proper. It felt like this place had come straight out of a fairy tale. "Looks like there's a clear divided between the incoming students and the rest of the rift-raft. I don't think we're going to be able to approach any of them."

"I see it too." Jaune said. All the students were place on one side of the port behind a couple teachers. Who were in a stare down with what looked like a wave of flashing cameras. The journalists that had been missing from the initial booking had been found. Jaune didn't think he or Emerald would have any better luck getting through the teacher wall. "Where do you think they're going?"

"Someplace we're not."

Jaune nodded in agreement. As much as he wanted to be, he wasn't a student here. He might have been allowed to get on the grounds, but they were words apart. Funny how literal that could be taken. It wasn't a bad thing, though. What he was doing was just as important as them, maybe even more if he wanted to brag. It's just he was taking the side roads while they were traveling the brightly lit highway, but they all basically had the same destination. He hoped their path would be kinder than his so far. "Let's go to the CCT we can get a good view there, and it's what we said we were here for."

The CCT was basically empty when they got there. The lady that waved them in was nice, but it was clear she hadn't expected people of their age to be anywhere near there today. She even asked them if they were lost students, and was surprised when they said they weren't. Given their huntsmen weapons it was an easy mistake to make.

They headed for the large window instead of any terminals. They could see the majority of Beacon from here, but so far nothing looked out of place.

 _Actually, was that and explosion near the port?_

Jaune tried to get a closer look, but nobody seemed to be in a panic so he let it go. This was a huntsmen academy, after all. Things like that were probably common place.

"They sure are a rowdy bunch this year," a man said from besides them. The badge around his neck signified him as a journalist from the Vale press.

"Isn't that good for you?" Emerald scoffed. "Better material to print."

The man brushed aside her rudeness with a good hearty laugh. "You're right about that. The more chaotic it gets around here the more the public wants to hear about is. Ozpin has been pushing the council's patience recently. I've even heard he's enrolled a fifteen-year-old girl this year, supposedly the same one that stopped Roman Torchwick."

"Wouldn't the council be thrilled to have another defender of the kingdom that they can order around?" Jaune nudged Emerald's side. They really didn't need her attitude right now.

The journalist noticed, but once again didn't seem offended in the slightest. "I'm guessing you're not a big fan of the council."

"I dislike anyone who only watches from the sidelines, pretending to care, while they take advantage of other people's problems."

"Ah, and you included me on that list. As a journalist, it's part of my job to hunt down people's misery and tragedies and sell them for a profit. That's what you believe, isn't in?" Emerald didn't reply. "I can't blame you. I am sometimes disgusted with what I write, celebrity gossip and hit pieces to entertain the masses, and when something really important happens it's all talk and no action, but tell me aren't you part of that list as well. Taking advantage of anyone and everyone to get ahead, pretending to be compassionate while you rob them blind. Don't give me that look. I've been around the block I can pick up on these things."

Emerald fixed him with the heavy glare, but backed down when it was clear he wasn't intimidated. "I'm trying to be better," was all she said.

"I believe it," he said shooting Jaune a strange look. "This isn't a static world. People change all the time, but if you say you can change than you have to give me the same benefit."

Emerald turned away in a huff. "How could I give you the benefit. I don't even know you."

"Ah, we're making progress. You've gone from outright hatred to reluctant acceptance of my unknown nature."

"Forgive her," Jaune said butting into the conversation, "she doesn't make the best first impressions, but if I may ask what are you doing her. Shouldn't you be down there with the rest of the journalists."

"Why would I waste my time with that desperate mob? They aren't going to find out anything everyone doesn't already know. A sneaky snapshot of Pyrrha Nikos or Weiss Schnee isn't going to impress anyone. There are hundreds of those already. I prefer my stories to be a little more exclusive."

"What made you think you'd find it by coming up here?"

"Same reason I suspect you did. It's a lot easier to see things when you're above it all, but it's not like I'm expecting to see anything extraordinary. It's more preliminary scouting. Trying to get a feel for this year's class. Pick out faces that I may need to remember in the future."

"Seems like you're putting in a lot of work for not much gain. It's not like huntsmen hide their identities."

"Normally you'd be right, the accepted students' names will be released right after initiation completes tomorrow, but this isn't a normal situation. Something is different about this class. Too much power had simply fallen in Ozpin's hands at the same time. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that this year's class is the strongest group that any academy has ever had. Two heavy hitting names from two different kingdoms, the Winchester heir, the only two survivors of Kuroyuri, a girl who looks suspiciously like the bandit queen Raven Branwen and who would be just the right age to say be her daughter, and any wildcards that might be attending. The students who got in through the practical exam, who didn't have transcript or recommendations from primary schools shouldn't be forgot either. It really shows just how short the public's attention span is for them to have already forgotten about the name Belladonna. Yet despite all that, Ozpin still felt the need to bring a fifteen-year-old into the fold as if he was worried to leave her behind."

"Aren't you well informed," Emerald said.

"It's my job to be," he replied.

"You said something about initiation." Jaune said putting himself between Emerald and the journalist. "What's that about?"

"Not every student who is walking in today will remain one come tomorrow. What's on a piece of paper can only get you so far. They have to prove they are actually ready for this."

"What do they have to do?"

"The specifics change every year, but it always takes place in the Emerald forest."

Jaune caught Emerald's eye and was glad when she understood what he was thinking. If anything was going to happen it was going to happen during the chaos of initiation. They would have to be there.

* * *

Getting into the Emerald forest the next day was even easier than getting into Beacon. Technically the Emerald forest was just a patch of wildness and not part of the school, and the teachers probably hadn't expected anybody wandering around the grimm infested forest on their own volition so there was nothing to stop Jaune and Emerald from walking right in.

For what was supposed to be a combat trail, the forest was actually rather quiet. Jaune could hear the sticks and leaves being churched as he walked. A beowolf lugged out from a bush and was quickly sliced opened with Crocea Mors. "You're getting better at this," Emerald commented.

"Considering what you put me through, it would be sad if I couldn't handle a single beowolf," Jaune said although he was actually kind of shocked how easily he took care of it. It wasn't too long ago that defeating a single grimm would have seemed like a huge triumph. Being a caretaker was really forcing him to adapt fast.

"Don't get overconfident. You still can't properly use your aura, so you're only one misstep away from death."

"I'll kept that in mind." His aura was better than it had been. He could put it up now, but it took time and a lot of concentration, not something he was confident he could use in stressful combat. Emerald said it would probably take a couple more weeks for it to become as natural as breathing.

"What are we looking for, anyways?" Emerald asked.

"Something strange." At that very moment, a giant ursa crashed through the trees in front of them with an excited girl…riding it? The ursa barreled through some more trees with the girl laughing the entire time. A green clad boy then broke through the tree line to chase after the unusual pair.

Jaune was in mid step when this happened and quickly spun around on his heel until he was facing the opposite direction and started speed walking. "Where are you going?" Emerald said, catching up to him. "You said we were looking for something strange."

"Not that kind of strange," Jaune interjected, refusing to look back. "As far as I'm concerned, I didn't see anything." Putting that "incident" behind them, Jaune and Emerald walked in a straight line for a while. A couple grimm bothered them, but it wasn't anything big. There were a few sounds of gunfire and the screeching of a nevermore, but they never saw it. "Hey look, a cave. Everyone knows caves hide secrets," Jaune pointed out, still trying to wipe his memory.

"You're hopeless, aren't you?" Emerald said.

"I'm sorry, who's the caretaker here?" Despite Jaune's questionable logic the two of them went inside. A quick fire etch and a dry piece of wood gave them their torch. They walked side by side as they traversed the cave.

"Do you really think we'll find anything in here?" Emerald asked not likening how she could only see two feet in front of her.

"It's a cave—a cave, Emerald, with cravings on the outside." Jaune said dragging the whole sentence out like he was explaining it to an eight-year-old. "We're either going to find something or hit a dead end." They turned a corner and saw a giant glowing thing floating in the darkness. "Told you," He said walking up to the mysterious object and holding his torch up to examine it. "I wonder what it is." Jaune switched the hand he was holding his torch with to bring out his journal but in doing so he reveled two rows of glowing red eye farther back.

"You certainly found something," Emerald said figuring out was that was and already preparing herself for the fight.

Jaune noticed it a second later. "Damn it."

The entrance to the cave blew outwards just as Emerald and Jaune got out. The deathstalker was furious more so than the average grimm. "Think it's mad we broke into its home?" Jaune said, holding his shield in front of him.

"Less talking, more surviving," Emerald replied, shooting off a few rounds. They just bounced off the deathstalker's amour which only made it charge them. For such a large creature, it sure moved fast. Emerald was forced to push Jaune out of the way of one of its pincers and then dodge the other. As she darted away, she shot a few more bullet to draw the creature's attention. She couldn't let this thing target Jaune. Without aura one blow would tear him apart. "Stay back!" Emerald shouted to her partner, who was getting back to his feet after the rough and unexpected shove.

"I'm not going to leave you," he cried out.

"You better not!" Emerald said, avioding the massive stinger as it tried to pierce right through her. "Just don't try and fight it head on. It's time to show your stuff mister magic man."

"Right!" Emerald and the deathstalker continued to skirmish. Emerald didn't take any hits but she wasn't able to land any either. It was a game of cat and mouse, but it couldn't last forever eventually she would run out of energy or the deathstalker would land a lucky hit. An explosion rocked the air next the deathstalker. The deathstalker seemed more surprised than anything else as the explosion only nicked its tail.

"Would you like to try hitting it next time!" Emerald berated.

"Try to keep it still," Jaune shouted back. "I can't change the location of the etch's effect on a whim. I have to draw the whole thing out."

"Sure, let me just stop the two-ton scorpion. It will be easy." Ducking under one of its pincers, Emerald ran under the deathstalker hoping against all hope that the beast wouldn't be smart enough to just drop its weight on her. She shot the blades, connected to a chain, from her weapons warping them around the deathstalker's front two legs.

The deathstalker tried to maneuver to chase its prey, but when it did Emerald gave her weapon a harsh pull. It was just enough to pull the front legs out from under it causing its head to smack the ground. It wouldn't stay that way for long, though.

It was already half way back up when the ground beneath it turned to ice encasing its leg. It was trapped leaving Emerald to swing her blades at its unarmored bits and Jaune to pelt it with his etches. It didn't take long to bring it down after that.

"That was rough," Jaune said retuning to Emerald's side, his fingers stained with colors from gripping his chalk so hard.

"I'm surprised they had something like this here." Emerald said putting her weapons back into their regular form as she watched the creature slowly dissolve. "It's not that agile, but deathstalkers are no joke. If a single student happened upon it they would have been in trouble.

"Beacon is the top combat school in the world. They must expect a lot." Jaune said feeling proud that they were able to beat it with no injuries. "Come on we've still got a cave to explore."

* * *

"All the students have partnered up," Miss. Goodwitch reported to the headmaster. "But there's something that needs to be brought to your attention."

"What is it?" Ozpin said taking a sip of coffee as he watched over Beacon cliffs.

"The deathstalker has been killed."

"Did it injure the students? That, the king taijitu and the nevermore are the most challenging grimm in the forest."

"No one has been seriously hurt so far, and Lie Ren actually killed the taijitu on his own a little bit ago. It was an impressive display."

"Than what is the issue? It would seem that we have a promising batch of students this year."

"The issue is the deathstalker wasn't killed by any students. Look at this." Miss. Goodwitch held up her tablet showing a replay of a green-haired girl striking down the deathstalker as a blond boy was slightly off screen assisting with his semblance or some form of dust manipulation.

"They certainly look like students," Ozpin said.

"They're not. Camera footage shows them walking in from the outside. What should we do about them?"

Ozpin thought it over. "Leave them be. They might just be huntsmen out training who haven't realized they've wander into Beacon's initiation. If they're not disrupting any of the students, why waste resources, but if they get any closer send Peter to escort them out."

"Are you sure, sir? They're only children."

"They might be children, but they're clearly not ordinary civilians. It's a shame they took out a grimm meant to test our students but in doing so they've proven they can handle themselves."

"But they shouldn't be here, we should at least question them."

"If they cause any more trouble we will, but for now we have entire class to observe and assess. Unexpected situations happen every initiation. It is hardly cause to raise the alarm."

Miss. Goodwitch looked desperately like she wanted to disagree, but she calmed down. "As you wish."

"Good," Ozpin nodded taking another sip of coffee. Unknown to her Ozpin recognized one of those infiltrators. Why had mister Arc, an applicant he had narrowly rejected due to his unreliable transcripts, appeared at Beacons intuition? It wasn't a burning question but it was an interesting one.

* * *

The deathstalker had partially collapsed the cave, but Emerald and Jaune were still able to walk through it. It went on much longer than either of them had expected and it also continuously sloped downwards so it was unlikely they were going to be popping out the other side. "How deep dose this place go?" Emerald asked, watching the light of Jaune's new torch bounce off the wall. Without it they would have been in complete darkness.

"Does this cave feel unnatural to you?" Jaune asked. "We've been walking for a while now and the cave hasn't changed shape once. There also haven't been any alcoves or branching paths. It's like a corridor."

"Now that you mention it." Emerald took notice of how smooth the floors and walls were. They were far from prefect, with cracks, chips and bumps, but it seemed like something artificial that nature had grown into when there was no one around to stop the decay.

"Do you think the deathstalker might have made this. Are we just going to find its nest at the end of this," Jaune said, sounding worried.

"Grimm don't make nests," Emerald informed him. "At least not ones to house any baby grimm. We don't even know if the things can reproduce. I used to think the notation that they appear out of thin air was ridicules, but after spending some time with you, I'm not willing to throw out that possibly. Also, a deathstalker wouldn't burrow this far. It needs to be close enough to the surface to ambush its prey.

"So, is this manmade?" Jaune would never have a chance to get an answer for that question because at the end of the corridor, past the mist of abyssal darkness, they saw a soft light shining through an entryway. Emerald and Jaune both headed for it at an increased paced just slow enough to avoid tripping on anything in front of them.

They entered a small cavern with small crystals in the wall that produce a bluish color that lit the whole room. A perfectly circular pool of crystal clear water sat in the center of the room. The room was completely empty, otherwise.

"What is this place," Emerald said taken aback by its simple beauty.

"I don't know," Jaune said running his finger through the pool of water. It seemed to go down forever. Nothing was wrong about this place, per se, but if he been looking for something strange he had found it.

"There's something scratched into the wall here," Emerald said. Jaune went over to examine it. It was symbol of sorts with wide curves and a branching pattern. It wasn't anything Jaune used in his etches, so he sketched it as best he could in his journal to decode later.

Examining the rest of the room didn't yield anything. "I don't understand. Is this some kind of secret escape for teachers or students?" Jaune questioned.

"Maybe Beacon has a secret cult," Emerald suggested.

"I know you're joking but I would appreciate it if you didn't mention anything that could be hitting too close to a dark truth. I don't want my dream to be tainted." Jaune checked the time on his scroll. "We should get out of here. Initiation is probably almost over if it's not done already. If we get back up and don't hear the horrified screams of students it's safe to assume that nothing ended up happing. I might have dragged us out here for nothing."

"Hey, I had fun," Emerald cheered, sliding her arm around Jaune's shoulder, "and we found one pretty cool place. Maybe we should live here instead of your apartment. It has a great atmosphere."

"And we'd only have to trek through a grimm infested forest every time we needed groceries. I think I'll pass."

When they arrived back at the apartment Jaune got working on the symbol. His journal and Roman's book ended up being useless because there was nothing magical about the symbol at all. Turns out it was just a character from an ancient script.

Translated it was the word for "choice."

* * *

A note lost to the Vacuo desert

 _Dear brother,_

 _You have asked me how huntsmen and caretakers differ. I have already talked to you about the differences in what we do and why I stopped being a huntsman to become a caretaker, so I will instead tell you about the differences in our factions' organization._

 _Firstly, while huntsmen have a central power in the form of academies and government, caretakers have no such system. Every caretaker is independent and is free to do whatever they want. The only thing that connects caretakers is our knowledge of things unknown and a loose set of customs that caretakers more or less try to follow if for nothing more than convenience._

 _While there is nothing stopping anybody from taking up the caretaker title, it's very rare for someone to just stumble into the job. Nearly all new caretakers are chosen by a current caretaker using whatever means that particular caretaker prefers. The one who brought me in trained me for many years but I hear it's not uncommon to immediately set someone off on their own and see if they live or not._

 _The only thing that seems to be a constant is a new caretaker receives a manual, a book passed down from caretaker to caretaker. These manuals are the only true things the caretakers have made as a collective. Most caretakers will eventually create their own personal journals, and set the manuals aside until it's ready to be passed down. Most personal journals are taken to the grave with their writers with no one else ever laying eyes on it, but there have been some stored in less private places although it's unlikely anyone without caretaker knowledge would take interest in them or even understand them._

 _Manuals on the other hand are constantly moving. Created by what I will call original caretakers (although this really just means a caretaker who discovered this world without a manual, and thus created their own, making it possible for any caretaker from any time to be considered an original) they are meant to be the starting point for anyone who takes its maddens seriously. Even if a caretaker dies without passing their manual on it will eventually find an owner that will unlock its secrets. It might take hundreds of years but unless it's destroyed someone will dig it up. Each manual is different, but due to how many caretakers a manual will pass through, often passing between what might be called sects, the information will largely be consistent between them. It's not know how many manuals there actually are, but it can't be many. The largest know gathering of manuals by a single person was three and that was enough to spark the Heluo incident._

 _In essence brother the caretakers are not an origination at all like the huntsmen. It's an ideology, and that's important because while enterprises can collapse with the death of a few people, an ideology is everlasting. Even if every manual is destroyed and ever caretaker killed. It wouldn't take long for a new generation to rebuild and takes its place, perhaps never even knowing that they weren't the first._

* * *

 **An: Not much to say for this chapter. It's more of an outside perspective of how things seem to people who aren't part of the main** _ **RWBY**_ **story. From a writing perspective, it makes since to have all the important and influential characters in one place and interacting with each other, but from a plot perspective, something I'm much more interested in exploring, the gathering of all this people, heiress Weiss, champion Pyrrha, sliver-eyed Ruby, would all seem very strange to an outsider. Also, there's Blake. Now I'm not saying Rooster Teeth just kind of made her the daughter of the previous White Fang leader after the fact and didn't really think about it…but the fact no one recognized her last name, Weiss especially, is a pretty big plot hole. For the purpose of this story we're just going to pretend that most of the characters fell asleep during that part of history class.**


	11. Chapter 11

A crowd was gathered.

Tukson's bookstore was normally a quiet place that gathered little attention. It was just another small business inside the bustling city of Vale.

"Please disperse. There is nothing to see here," an officer of the law said.

Nobody moved. They were transfixed. The officer was lying, there was everything to see. A scene that couldn't even been found on television without being censored.

Someone puked, splattering the sidewalk in yellow and green chunks. A child cried as her mother held her hand not seeming to comprehend that her child shouldn't be witnessing this horror. A teen snapped a photo thinking that it would make a sick cover for an album he was going to make one day.

The owner himself was the reason for this commotion, but by the looks of it, he hadn't gotten a say in the matter. Tukson was strung up in front of the store, suspended about eight feet in the air by a variety of materials from rope to old 2x4s and even the man's own innards. It was no engineering marvel and was constructed out of trash more than anything else, which made the smell all the more worse, but it held.

Tukson was positioned in a way where both his arms were tied together and pulled to his right like he was pointing to something. It didn't go unnoticed that he had claws and they were extending although three on them were damaged or missing completely, likely having been torn off. His left side was also torn open reliving a mass of red flesh and organs. This is where some of the materials for the suspension had come from although they looked more like inhumane decorations than necessary support. Tukson had many smaller injuries all over his body, but the one that drew the most attention from the crowd where the two holes in his face where his eyes should have been. (They would later been found in an alleyway two blocks away in near pristine condition.) It was a haunting sight to see a man with no eyes staring at you.

Clearly Tukson was dead, but for what reason, and how did he get there without anyone noticing? It wasn't late day but it wasn't that early either. Autopsy would later put his death at around 6:00 in the morning, a good two hours before anyone noticed the dead faunus. That didn't necessarily mean he had been hanging there for two hours, but no matter what time he was strung up someone should have seen it happen. This street was a quiet part of the commercial district, not a deserted part.

Police would later interview the nearby businesses, whose employees should have been there before 6:00 to open their stores, but each of them would give a different version of the same story. No one had seen the body, but they all admitted they hadn't really been paying attention to the storefront, and had just done their normal routine, but no matter how many question the cops asked no one could give a reason for how they missed a decaying body hanging right above them. The smell alone should have given it away, but when asked, everyone just said the smell of blood somehow didn't register with them as a cause for alarm. It was because of this that it wasn't even clear when the body had been hung or who had been the first to discover it. One second everything was as normal as could be then a mass of people saw it all at once. It was like they had all been wearing blinders that were suddenly removed.

"Everyone please back away. You are interfering with a police investigating," the cop said to the crowd that still refused to move. Jaune and Emerald watched from the other side of the street. His stay in Bury and toughed Jaune to this stuff, but neither he or Emerald could say they were completely unaffected by the bloodied sight.

"Thinking what I'm thinking," Emerald said.

"That we should get involved? I'm not sure. We have even less reason to believe that this is supernatural than with Bury. This might just be the work of a madman."

"I thought you wanted to help people?"

"I do but if this is police business, I don't want to get in their way. They have their job and I have mine. It would be best if we don't accidently sabotage each other or worse they see me as a suspect for poking around."

"Coming from the guy who snuck into Beacon's initiation and recruited me to rob a museum," Emerald chuckled. "I think we're way past trying to avoid places we don't belong."

"I really wish you would stop pointing out my hypocrisy. You're worse than my sisters. Can't you just be the loving sidekick who response to everything I say with 'of course, mister Arc' and 'I'd be happy to assist you.'"

Emerald paused liked she was pondering the thought. "I'll think about it if you can solve this case. Maybe I'll even wear a maid outfit as a reward." She brought her finger to her lips and twisted her hips like she was a nervous schoolgirl. Jaune just groaned. "But you do want to help, don't you?" Emerald said, seriously.

Jaune looked at the crime scene again and his fist clenched. Of course, he wanted to help. This was awful, but what if he just got in the way? What if he failed? Grimm where awful, too, but running into a grimm pack to join a huntsmen party would do more harm than good. Same with the police, they were trained do this kind of job. Just because Jaune was stronger and had aura now didn't mean he should butt in and disrupt the flow of things. An ego like that, believing not only you could help but you had to, could get people who specialized in that type of stuff hurt of even killed for your incompetence. Jaune was mature enough to admit that, now.

He had ignored those words when he dad told him something similar when Jaune had explained his desire to be a huntsman for probably the thousands time. He had believed it was always better to do something instead of nothing. It sucked to be wrong especially when it came to your parent, but Jaune still desperately wanted to help in some way. There was no proof this _wasn't_ a supernatural incident, after all. "We'll look into it," Jaune told Emerald, "but if something else comes up we'll switch to that and let the police handled this."

"I'm telling you I've got a good feeling about this one." Jaune didn't know if she should be concerned for how exited Emerald sounded. Out of all the words he could have used to described his feelings about this 'good' was near the bottom of the list. "Murders happens all the time in Vale, but not like this. Normal killers don't risk getting caught by displaying their victims, most aren't even sadistic enough to do it."

Jaune decided it would be best not to ask how Emerald knew so much about killers. Emerald was hardly an innocent girl, but even Jaune would like to think he wasn't working—and sleeping in the same room—with a street-born psycho. "We should get going."

As Emerald and Jaune left to go strategize, another figure dismissed herself from the crowd of people. Her face was passive as she walked away from the sight, but if you were observant you could tell that she was walking stiffly and that the black bow on top of her head would twitch in anger.

* * *

Tukson's murder had already been big news around Beacon, but when the police dug up some evidence that he was part of the White Fang the student body really went into motion. You couldn't walk from one classroom to another without hearing about it. Speculation that it had been the work of an angry human, who had discovered the truth, or a hit by the White Fang themselves was running rampant. Some of the more bullheaded students were hoping to be sent out to help catch the killer.

It was all so much, and it was the reason Blake had confined herself to her room for most of the day. Beacon wasn't what she expected it to be. It felt like she was only learning about things she already knew and being taught skills she already had. Her whole reason for coming here was to make a difference and work towards the right path to equinity, but how could she do that when she was stuck in a classroom? She had begrudging put up with it before, realizing that she couldn't change the world in a week, but Tukson's murder had reminded her the world wasn't going to stand still while she sat around. If his death really did have something to do with the White Fang, someone needed to investigate. Unfortunately, the teachers seemed more concerned with the papers they assigned than the killer currently on the loose.

"Hey, why are you looking so grumpy!" Black jumped nearly a foot off her bed and barley managed to stop herself from hissing at the sudden appearance of her partner, Yang Xiao Long.

"What have I told you about sneaking up on me!" Blake said, not the first time she had been irritated with her partner. Yang wasn't a bad person, far from it, but her personality and Blake's were just on opposite ends of the spectrum. In combat class, they proved they could work together and complement each other's fighting style, but outside the arena they had a little tougher time getting along.

Alright that wasn't exactly true. Yang was more than happy to talk and hang out with her partner, but Blake was hesitant to open up around her. Yang was the type of person that once they got their foot in the door there was nothing you could do to stop them, and Blake wasn't ready for that, yet. So, for now, their partnership was defined by mostly one sided conservation where Blake would offer her input from time to time.

It wasn't the best of relationships, and it was easy to tell that Yang was trying to make it more, but with Blake's secrets, she couldn't just be comfortable around people she didn't know that well. Maybe it was unfair to her team, especially since she was made leader for some reason, but they just wouldn't understand her plight if she came out to them. Yang didn't seem like the person who would dislike her just because she was a faunus, but there was no telling how she would react if she found out she had been part of the White Fang. Even if she didn't have any personal vendetta against the White Fang, she might still turn her in out of obligation. Then there were the other two member of Team BRYL (Beryl), Russel and Sky weren't outwardly racist against faunus from what she'd seen, but they clearly didn't have any interest or problem with the current position of faunus.

"Blakey, you're spacing out again," Yang said poking the black-haired girl's cheek. "You thinking about a scene from that porn novel you've been reading?"

Blake had stopped trying to justify her reading material to Yang a long time ago. "I'm thinking about that murder if you must know. I can't believe someone could do something like that."

Yang expression lost its cheer and she sat down next to Blake. "I know what you mean. Ruby was mortified. The grimm are supposed to be our enemies not each other."

"We should do something," Blake stated.

Yang shook her head. "I would love nothing more than to go and hunt that bastard down, but we're students. If we go out there we'd just being running around wasting time. That's if Miss. Goodwitch doesn't stick us in detention for trying."

"We can't just do nothing. We're huntresses!"

"Huntresses-in-training," Yang corrected. "I'm sure if the police needed someone to help catch this guy, they wouldn't be turning towards first year Beacon students. Why are you so worried about this, anyhow?" Yang eyes widened and she went very still. "Did you know him?"

"No." Not personally. She had heard his name being passed around while she was in the White Fang, but she had never meet the guy. It was a coincidence she had been there to see the body. She had been wanting to get some books, and maybe pry a little into what the White Fang had been up to.

Yang released a breath she had been holding. "That's good…well not good, but you know what I mean. Listen, don't get too caught up in this. I'm sure the police will get this guy soon." Yang smiled like her reassurance was proof that it would happen.

It wasn't the answer Blake had been hoping for, but maybe her partner was right. Maybe Blake was seeing connections that weren't there. This might have nothing to do with the White Fang or faunus. She had come to Beacon to get away from it all. It wouldn't do to get pulled back in due to one isolated incident.

The door to Team BRYL's room was kicked open as Russel cam bragging in. "You're never going to believe it. There's been another murder!"

* * *

"Another death in 12 hours. This doesn't bode well," Jaune said, quietly. This time the murder had taken place in the agricultural district. A faunus farmer killed and positioned in a similar way to Tukson, suspended from his barn shed, although this one still had his eyes, and was facing north instead of south. Jaune didn't know if that matter but considering that made it so both bodies had their arms pulled to the west it seemed important enough to note.

The police had already cleared most of the crime scene by the time Emerald and Jaune had got there They were lucky to catch a glimpse of the body before it was taken down. It had seemed the police had tried to keep the second killing under wraps, but something had leaked and all of Vale knew by this point. It was scary how fast those reports could run a story. They had already gotten the location, the name, and the similarity between the earlier killing down all before the police had finished cleaning the crime scene. Pictures were the one thing that hadn't made it out, though, so if you really wanted all the details you had to come yourself. Police swiftly kicked all the onlookers out and threated to arrest them if they came back which was enough to get them to leave, all except Jaune and Emerald.

They kept their distance and stayed hidden while the police looked for clues. Emerald's semblance offered an additional level of protection in case someone wandered into their hiding place, so there wasn't any worry of them being discovered even when the cops were on high alert for sneaky journalist or crazy thrill seekers.

The two intruders weren't doing anything but waiting around behind some barrels beside the barn. The police were being loud enough that any clues they found were relayed to them. Nothing came up that really mattered though, and Emerald was starting to get really board. "I'm going to stretch my legs," she said.

"Are you crazy. You're going to get caught," Jaune whispered, harshly.

"I'll be fine. I'm just going to walk around for a bit. They won't see me."

"What about me? If one of them comes over here and you're not here to disguise us with your semblance, I'm a sitting duck."

"They're not going to come over here, and if they do they'll just kick you out and tell you too stop being nosy. It's no big deal." Emerald left it at that, not giving Jaune the chance to go down his whole list of worries as she entered the barn to stretch her legs. The police weren't guarding the place anymore since they got the body out. There was still a chance that one of them could walked back in, but Emerald wasn't that concerned. She pulled her arms above her head and listened to the satisfying cracking of her back and shoulder. She had used to do that every time should woke up but sleeping in an actual bed really helped.

She walked around the barn to get some blood flowing back into her legs. The barn was more for storage than anything else. Emerald saw a couple pens where animals might have been kept but they weren't there now. Apparently, all the animals running loose had been what alerted the journalist and the police to the scene in the first place. There was still a dark, dry spot on the floor from where the blood had leaked down from the corpse.

Emerald tried to avoid that, so she ended up walking closer to the wall and noticing something because of it. There was an impression on the wall. It wasn't very big or very clear but something was definitely there. It looked kind of like a nevermore print, but Emerald had never known a nevermore to walk vertically. Also, the print was far too big to belong to a juvenile but far too small to belong to regular one. Emerald ran her hand along it, but quickly pulled away as her hand became sticky. Resisting the urge to wipe the foreign substance off, Emerald examined it.

It was clear and kind of looked like spit. Pushing her pointer finger and thumb together then pulling them apart created a connecting line of the substance that wobbled in the wind but was surprising hard to pull apart.

Emerald went to get Jaune so he could see it.

"Yeah, I've got no idea," he said after doing the same test Emerald did, "but it definitely isn't human or faunus."

"So, we've hit something other worldly?"

"I don't know any animals capable of this," Jaune replied taking his sword out and cutting into the wall. "You can start rubbing it in now. You were right and I was wrong."

"Do you really think so little of me that you think I would throw this in your face." Jaune finished cutting a square in the wall, pulled out the section with the print on it and gave Emerald a look of absolute bewilderment.

Emerald smirked. "Because you'd be right. First Bury now this, you might want to hand that book over to me because it starting to look like I'm the one with the magic touch."

"Just because you said this would be connected to the supernatural doesn't mean a thing. You would have said that at any sign of violence. There was plenty of evidence to this just being a serial killer. The police were mentioning how they found White Fang propaganda in the house. This could have easily gone the other way. It just so happened you were right."

"Aww honey, it's okay. I didn't mean to bruise your ego." Emerald cracked herself up. "I'll try to be more considering of your feelings in the future."

Jaune really wanted to do something to her. He didn't know what he wanted to do he just knew he wanted it to be bad, but the sound of footsteps put his plans on hold. "We need to get out of here."

"Do you think they heard my laughter?" Emerald asked, innocently.

"I pretty sure the dead heard you laughing. Come on let's go."

* * *

Blake was out alone. Yang just didn't get it. Someone was hunting down faunus, and doing it quickly. It was already dark, and Blake was sure her team had noticed her absence by now, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She did not run away from the White Fang to sit on the sidelines. If the other students didn't want to help, then she would do it herself.

The location of the second murder had been cleared out by the police at this point. All that was left was a deserted farm and the chirping of bugs in the night. Blake didn't expect to find much but it was the best place to start.

The house groaned as she walked up the front steps. The door was locked but it was so old that Blake had barley even put her hairpin in before it gave up and unlocked. The house felt like any stereotypical grandparents' house. Old and odd thing hung on walls, cabinets and tables. The placed was as filled as it could be without being considered cluttered. It would actually work in Blake's favor making it more likely the police would have missed something.

She explored the house seeing that some rooms had obviously had a rougher search than others. The bedroom had obvious sighs of tampering and movement. Blake checked them anyways. The police hadn't released anything about the farmer being a White Fang supporter, so there was no way Blake could have known for sure, but she had a knack for jumping to conclusions and just assuming these things. It was a fault that had probably played a part in many of her past mistakes and would certainly lead to more in the future, but this time it would sever her well.

It led her to noticing the subtle sighs, like the scuffing on the floor that would have been too much for just one person make, that lead her to finding the hidden compartment in the basement. A White Fang mask and flag, a rife, a small amount of dust and a stack of documents.

It made senses. A place away from the city and out of the way would make a perfect meeting place. It would be a stretch to say this play was a safe house or a hideout, but it was definitely a place where the White Fang could gather and organize.

It was now perfectly clear to Blake the someone was targeting the White Fang. Both victims had been members and while they couldn't be considered upper leadership they were certainly more important than the common member. But, how was the killer getting this information and why was he killing them in such a brutal and public way?

There were a thousand reason for the why. Hating and even killing faunas out of anger was nothing new, Blake had seen how some humans reacted when they felt the "worthless animals" were stepping out of line, but the how was a more difficult question to answer. The police hadn't even known about this, so how would the killer.

The answer become clear the more she thought about it and it made her want to vomit. The only way someone could know this much about the White Fang was if they were part of it, or had been part of it. Just like Blake someone had betrayed the White Fang, but they were taking it to a point that she couldn't even considered. The White Fang might have lost their way but no one deserved that fate, and if Blake didn't do something, more bodies were certain to pile up.

* * *

Jaune could see some faunus protesters, ones that weren't associated with the White Fang, from his apartment window. The two faunus murders had stirred up the public and anti-faunus discrimination was the main topic. So far, nothing had really come of it, but the increase in the movement had only been alive for a few hours. If things went on too long it might spiral out of control. It would be a prime time for the White Fang to up the ante and increase their recruitment, and those in power we're well aware of that. It was very possible they might fire the first shot out of fear.

It wasn't a good situation and as long as these killings continued it would only be getting worse, which it would. This killer wasn't going to be swayed by protest, public opinion or appeals to his morals. Jaune doubted it even had any. This probably wasn't even about faunus at all. It was likely just a coincidence that both victims were faunus with White Fang connections.

Jaune stifled a yawn in his hand. It was late, passed midnight, but as much as he wanted to, he couldn't go to sleep. Jaune doubted this creature was killing for no reason. The body positioning was too much for it not to have any meaning. This thing, whatever it was, was trying to accomplish something, the killings were just the setup, and it was setting up fast.

Jaune returned to the floor, since his apartment lacked a table, were Emerald was helping him look for a possible match to that print they pulled from the barn. She had Roman's book while Jaune read through the journal he made. There was also a map between them. Jaune had gotten it from the travel pack he'd taken to Bury. There were two straight red lines drawn on it. Both bodies had been position to point somewhere, so Jaune had focused on that, but nothing came out of it. They both pointed west out to the sea, and the farmer's body, in the agricultural district had been position directly below Tucson's body, in the commercial district, on the map, so there had to been some meaning behind it, but Jaune couldn't find. The lines themselves ran parallel to each other and didn't cross anything of importance, important being defined as being significant the people of Vale, there was no telling what this creature considered important. The next logical step would be the area between the two lines, which was concerning since it encompassed the west side of the residential district, most of the industrial district and all of patch if you followed the line to the end of the map. It was so broad an area that Jaune and Emerald would never be able to cover it alone.

"Did you find anything?" Jaune asked.

"No, your friends didn't seem interested in categorizing any of the creatures' footprints. They only talk about how they look and what they do. Not much help since we haven't seen the thing."

"Then try to find something about that slime. There can't be too many things that do that. I'll keep trying to figure out why it's doing this."

"I feel like you gave yourself the easier task," Emerald huffed.

"We can trade if you want. I'd be glad to take a break from holding the mental image of two gored corpses in my head and trying to extrapolate some kind of meaning from them."

Emerald got back to work glossing over pages. They both really needed a break, but they couldn't risk taking one. The next killing was probably just on the horizon. It could have already happened and they just didn't know about it. Jaune's hand reached for his scroll, not for the first time, thinking about giving Roman a call, but he pulled back. He couldn't just call Roman every time he got stuck. Jaune regretted using the first one on something so stupid, so he had promised himself that last two would only be used for emergencies. The issue was determining if this was an emergency or not. People were being killed, yes, but what was this thing's end goal? Was it trying to wipe out all of Vale, or was it just an isolated event only related to itself and those it had killed? Right now, there was no way to tell and that worried him.

"Here's an idea," Emerald said setting the book down, she couldn't read another word. "What if this thing really is targeting faunus for a reason? Both of them being White Fang dose seem like a little too big of a coincidence?"

"Then it's another layer that we don't know a thing about," Jaune snarled, he really was too tired for this. "What I'm more worried about is if the position of the bodies are related to some kind of magical apparatus, shouldn't their removal broken it or caused something else to happen."

"Maybe they only needed to be there initially or for some small amount of time. They could still be channeling their soul energy or something for all we know."

"That's what I'm worried about. If it's something like that, then we don't have a way to retroactively stop it. We'd have to stop this creature directly, and I don't think I need to remind you how well that's going." Jaune's finger dug into the pages of his journal, nearly tearing them, as he looked back at the map. Those lines had to mean something! He was sure those bodies were pointing that direction for a reason.

Jaune rolled onto his back the map held in the air above him. Think, there had to be something he was missing. Jaune went through everything he knew in his head. Two White Fangs members were killed, one was a bookstore owner the other was a farmer. Their bodies were strung up in similar positions and, on a map, they were on the same Y-axis. Whatever killed them is smart enough to avoid detection and seems to have the power to scale walls and produced a sticky substance.

Jaune's forehead creased. That didn't give him anything. Maybe he should be focusing on the differences instead of the similarities. The farmer had been killed at his farm when nobody was around. Tukson's was killed at his bookstore on a busy street where anyone could see his body.

Actually, that wasn't really true.

Their bodies had been _found_ in those places but that didn't mean they were killed there. People had just assumed that since both faunus owned the places where they were killed. In fact, weren't Tukson's eyes found in some alleyway. It was completely possible he had been killed there, away from prying eyes, and moved back to his store.

Jaune's mind began to whirl. What else were they just assuming as fact? He went through everything again. Jaune suddenly shot up, and Emerald jump as he called her name. "Emerald, you got a better look at the farmer's body than I did. What did you see."

Emerald was still trying to recover from the jump scare when she answered. "I don't know. It looked a like a body, the same as Tukson but with the eyes. Why?"

"Listen I think we've be getting ahead of ourselves. We just taken everything we heard as truth, but it's our job to question everything. We've let the public do our work for us and since they don't have the full picture it's lead us astray." Jaune was starting to talk a mile a minute as he stood up and started doing wild hand motions like an eccentric storyteller. "What if we've got the timeline wrong. It was said that Tukson's body was hung outside his store for hours before anyone noticed. I don't know about you, but that screams unnatural influence to me. Now why would the creature have needed to hide the body if it didn't matter if it was taken down, and why would he be in such a rush to kill two people so close together?"

"Get to the point already."

"It's not that Tukson was killed first then the farmer. That was just the order in which the bodies were found. The police never specifically stated the farmer was killer after Tukson, people just assumed that. I think the farmer was killer first since the creature knew it would take longer for him to be discovered since he lived in a more remote part of Vale."

"Now that you mention it, the blood in the barn was already dry when we got there. I just thought the body had been there for a while, but maybe a while was longer than I thought. Why does this matter though? Who cares who was killed first."

"For a normal killer, not much, but this isn't a normal killer. If the farmer was killed first, for the reason to not be found too soon, it must be important. Putting the farmer's death before Tukson's means that both of them were hanging at the same time. It wasn't just their arms that were pointing somewhere it were their faces as well. They were looking at each other. They're not just circumstantially connected, but directly. The creature didn't care if the bodies were removed because they already created their connection." Jaune grabbed the map and drew a line connecting the two bodes two each other.

"Don't you think you're jumping to concisions. Even if you're right about the farmer's death being before Tukson, that doesn't mean everything else you said is right."

"You're right, I have no grantee I'm right, but I've been doing more research outside just etches and dimensional storage, you know, and forging a connection between two entities is a basis for a lot of magic. It how the transdimensional plate works, at least I think so," Jaune added in a whisper before returning to his mile-a-minute speech. "It might just be a theory but it's the best one we have. That means for this thing to do anything it needs at least two more kills. These lines right here," Jaune pointed to the horizontal line on the map, "aren't leading to anything. They're guidelines."

"So, the next two kills, because it has to be a pair, are going to happen somewhere on those lines," Emerald said starting to see what Jaune was getting at.

"Right! Specifically, one on the bottom line and one on the top although I don't think they have to be killed exactly on that line. Their bodies just have to be moved there."

"That's still going to be a lot of ground to cover, and even if this is this case, the only way we'll find the killer is if he's already killed someone and is positioning them."

Jaune bit his lip clearly just now noticing that problem. If the body only had to be moved to a specific position the kill could still happen anywhere in Vale. "Hopefully it won't come to that. As for where, I think I can guess where the bodies are going to be placed." Jaune took his hand as an improvised ruler, measured the distance between Tukson and the farmer's body, used that measurement to plot two dots down on the horizontal lines and then connected them together with another line making a square. "This would be the most logical place, but we should check the entire thing to make sure."

"I thought we shouldn't be making assumption. Is it wise to use our human created math and geometry to try and explain magic?"

"My etches uses math to do what they do so there's a precedent," Jaune defended.

"What if we don't find anything? It could easy set up behind us after we pass it, and we can't just keep running back and forth.

"Listen, it's not a prefect plan! I'm just coming up with it now. I'll try to flesh it out while we search. You take the top path I'll take the bottom. We'll call each other if we find anything, got it?"

"I guess this is all we can do for now," Emerald said running out the door with Jaune.

* * *

Blake removed her White Fang masked and sighed. She had infiltrated a White Fang rally hoping that there would be an attack, or at the very least the White Fang themselves would know what was going on, but no such luck. The White Fang only saw these killings as a way to drawn in more recruits, and it was working. There was a reason she had been able to slip in so easily.

It didn't matter, though. The White Fang were just as clueless as to the perpetrator identity as anyone else. There wasn't even a hint of speculation that it might be one of their own. Blake checked her scroll and saw about a dozen missed calls from her team. It was probably time to head back to Beacon. She wasn't going to find anything more tonight. The killer hadn't reveled himself, and since there was a second body maybe Beacon would do more to help.

She was about to text Yang and let her know that she was alright, but before she could, Blake's cat ears picked up a soft tapping noise. It sounded close, but Blake looked all around the dark street she was walking through and didn't see a thing. The White Fang rally had taken place in a mostly deserted part of the industrial district that was really only full of storage warehouses, so it was expected the place would be devoid of people, but everything still seemed too empty.

She heard the noise again and quickly pulled out her weapon, pointing to where she though she heard the noise come from.

There was nothing.

"If someone's there you better come out. I don't want to hurt you," Blake said her voice echoing off the warehouses' walls.

There was no answer.

Blake relaxed her shoulder. Maybe she was more tired than she thought. She was starting to jump at shadows. She held up her scroll ready to try and text Yang again when something clear dropped on the screen. At first, Blake thought it was just some water but when she touched it is was not only sticky but sickeningly warm.

Blake twisted her head upwards and saw the face of true terror. Crawling along the wall above her was an eight-foot-long creature. Its general shape was like that of a caterpillar except instead of tons of stubby legs this thing had eight long ones that each had two joints and ended in a sort of claw. It was entirely covered in light grey fur that was damp for some reason. If it had eyes they were covered by its fur and its mouths seemed to extended too far down it's body. It didn't have any teeth and only produced this awful gargling sound when it opens its mouth, revealing two purple tongues.

Blake only had time to scream before the thing lunged at her.

* * *

An old fairy tale of which no known copies still exist (part 1 of 2)

 _When the world was still young three great wizards walk Remnant._

 _One of these wizards was an extraordinarily kind man going from settlement to settlement doing his best to spread happiness to the world. He would cause rain that let crops grow and cured the sick where he could. He was loved by many and was by far the most respected out of all the great wizards._

 _However, as he observed the happiness of others he wondered why he could not be as satisfied as them. He had powers like no other and yet he felt he was missing something._

 _He traveled far and wide looking for an answer. Until one day he came across a very small village being ravaged by the elements. Quick to help, the wizard saved the village from being wiped off the map._

 _Although they did not have much the villagers threw a festival in his honor. They drank and danced for the entire day, and it was there the wizard met a girl. She had a large scare covering half her face from many years ago when her campfire had burn her after it caught a strong breeze. The wizard, wanting to help, offered to heal it for her._

 _The woman accepted the offer but not before asking if he was doing it to restore her beauty. To which the wizard replied, that he was doing this because she was the most beautiful woman he's ever laid eyes on and he did not want her to hide her face in shame._

 _They got married and had a son. The Wizard settled down in that village happy with his new life, but one day, when he was out crafting a gift for his son, he returned to see the village set ablaze._

 _A large tribe had attack the village because they had recently had a bad harvest. They were furious the wizard had not come help them as he done to other so many times before._

 _The Wizard tried desperately to save his wife and son but they had burns he could not heal. The fire had already eaten his wife by the time he got there and he watched his son take his last breath as the smoke strangled his throat._

 _Anger the likes of which the wizard had never felt before burned inside him. He swore vengeance against those that had murder his family and used most of his power to curse them and all their decedents. Animal parts started growing from everyone in that tribe be it ears, tails, scales, fur, or anything else._

 _Not only were they now marked in a way the rest the population wasn't, but now whenever a human saw a person with animal parts they were consumed with an unexplainable rage to hurt or kills these people._

 _Unable to trade, work together, marry, or hide their marks from other tribes they fell into oppression and suffering. Eventually after hundreds of years the curse that drove the people's rage wore off although the animal features still remained._

 _Despite this thing did not get better. The magic might have ceased to function but the culture and tradition of hatred still continued and that was far more powerful than any curse. By this time these animal people weren't even considered human and were instead given a new name, taken from wizard who marked them, and had not been seen since that day, Faunus._

* * *

 **An: A new monster appears and Blake has gotten herself in to something she shouldn't have, and there's been some major chances at Beacon now that Jaune's not there. How far these chances go will be revealed in time, but for now there's a much more serious problem on the horizon.**

 **I tried to make this chapter represent the differences between caretaker and huntsmen, specifically between Blake and Jaune. Jaune has realized that if he's going to survive he'll have to slow down although he may have decelerated a little too much, but good old Blake is there to pick up the slack and race head first into problems. To be fair, though, she could never have imagined it would end up like this.**


	12. Chapter 12

**An: This chapter is real late. It's not because it was overly hard to write or something bad happened it's just as summer is coming to a close I got incredibly busy from having to take the finals for my summer classes and start what basically is a fulltime job to complete my community service for my scholarship.**

 **Because of all that there were many days were I just couldn't write anything and as such not only is this chapter late, but it's not as long as I would have liked. The decision was to push forward with my original plan for this chapter and make you all wait possible two more weeks, or cut it off early to get it out.**

 **Sadly, I have a feeling that the next chapter is going to be delayed as well since I'll be heading back to college soon, but do not worry once I'm settled in things should be a lot more consistent. I've optimized my schedule to make sure I have plenty of free time to work on this story, so just hang with me.**

* * *

Blake was going to die. This thing, whatever it was, was already nearly on top of her. There wasn't time to bring up her weapon and she was too far in shock to even think about dodging. Her only hope was if her aura held.

The monster crashed into her, dropping her to the floor under its weight and sending her weapon skidding across the street. Her aura saved her from any injury, but the impact had knocked the wind out of her, and all see could think about was the wet, sticky fur brushing against her stomach and face. The creatures two tongues licked either side of its mouth like it was is about to savior a delicious meal.

From this angle, Blake could see that her attacker did in fact have eyes. There was nothing natural about them, though. There was no white to be seen and the pupils looked and acted like black egg yolks, sliding independently across the iris like they were on frying pans. That was probably the creepiest thing about all of this. Not the unexplainable creature itself, or its violent aggression, but the way its stare seemed completely unfocused from what it was doing, like it didn't even care.

It brought its front two leg, or Blake guessed they could have been arms too, up above her stomach. For some reason, Blake was remained of the claw machines in arcades, expect this claw had one extra digit, looked sharp enough to pierce iron, and she was the prize to be won.

The thing's left appendage shot forward, aiming to tear Blake's chest open. She couldn't get out from under the creature to dodge, but she wasn't just going to sit here and die. She thrusted her arm up and forward to block. Her forearm was thin enough that instead of being run through by its claws, it fell between them and hit what could have been called the creatures palm. It was enough to stop herself for being gorged, but the creature didn't waste a second wrapping it's digits around her in a grab.

Blake felt her aura cry. She tried to pull her arm back, but the creatures grip was strong and she couldn't move it an inch, even when she brought her other arm in to help pull. The squeezing of its claws finally broke through her aura and cut into her skin. It felt like her arm was being crunched by a pair of scissors. It was tough to keep her focus especially since she still had to watch out for its other free arm. Honestly though, if it decided to use the other one, she was dead.

She was dead even if it didn't.

Was this how it was going to end? After all her talk about equality and saving faunus, she was going to die on an empty street with no one around to ever know what happened to her. She guessed it was her own fault. When you run away from everything and everyone of course there's going to be no one left to save you.

Blake could barely feel her arm anymore. If she didn't know any better she would have said it had already been crushed completely, but the faint plush of aura she was still able to send up to it told her it was still mostly there.

A twitch from the corner of her vision brought her focus back to the creature's other arm. Apparently, it was ready to end this. Blake might have been able to bring her other arm up to block it but what would be the point? At least this option would be quick. She really didn't want a slow death where she'd bled out from a crushed or separated arm.

Blake watched the second appendage move about, above her, once again being reminding her of the claw machine with it being adjusted to get the perfect position. In this case that position would be above her heart.

Blake couldn't bear to look at it, but she couldn't bring herself to close her eyes, so she looked into the creatures own eyes, sickened by how uninterested they look. One of the egg yolk pupils had drifted so far to right it may have as well have been starting at the warehouse wall.

"Fore!"

Suddenly everything changed as something smashed up into the creature's jaw, which to be fair made up about half its body, sending it slamming shut. If it had any teeth it surly would have bitten its two tongues off. The impact didn't end there, however, the force had been strong enough to push the creature off Blake and send it spinning backwards.

Taking every advantage of her sudden freedom, Blake rolled away, grabbed her weapon, got into a kneeling position, and pointed it at the monstrosity that had nearly killed her. She was aware of the blood dripping from her damaged arm, but she didn't have time to think about it.

The creature had recovered quickly and had latched itself onto a wall. It seemed to need to turn its entire head, or maybe it should just be considered the front half of its body, to observe both Blake and her mysterious savior.

Suddenly, the creature jerked to the side, rose to its hind legs, swatted the air, then quickly skirted up the warehouse it was hanging on. Blake followed it with her weapon ready to put a few holes in the disgusting thing, but as it reached the top, it just vanished. Blake was shocked but even more so when she caught, what looked like a cane, being raised to the side of her. The man holding it pulled a trigger and a projectile was fired above the warehouse, but it didn't hit anything as it sailed off into the night.

"Tsk," the man, who Blake now saw was wearing a white suit and bowler hat, huffed. Blake's mind was still trying to process everything when a very small and colorful girl literality appeared beside the man. She looked pouty with her arms crossed and an umbrella slung over her shoulder.

"Don't worry about it," The man said sounding just as cocky as he looked. "Your semblance wasn't going to work on that thing. What an annoyance that something like that had to pop up just as Cinder is working me ragged. What is that kid doing? He's supposed to be taking care of this stuff for me, yet here I am working overtime."

"Excuses me," Blake interjected, irritated that she was being ignored. "Would you mind telling me what the hell that thing was, and just who you people are!"

The man turned to face her and even Blake's overworked mind was able to tell who it was instantly. "Oh, that's right. You're still here. You're very lucky you know…actually I take that back. You're vey unlucky. Wandering around at this hour and running into that. Don't you have a bedtime or something?"

"Roman Torchwick," Blake said shifting the focus of her weapon to him, "I'm a huntress of Beacon academy and you're under arrest. If you don't comply and answer my questions I'll be forced to use force."

Roman rolled his eyes and Neo silently giggled. It was bad enough that he was being talked down to by a first-year Beacon student, but she wasn't even in a state where she could beat one of junior's grunts, let alone him or Neo. Did that dust store incident really sully his reputation that badly?

"I said put your hand up!" Blake shouted. Sweat was gathering on her forehead and she was starting to feel the burning in her arm. Surprisingly, with an almost bored expression, Roman raised his hands in surrender, but before Blake could even consider how she would actually restrain him, the smoke rising from his cigar shot out like a snake.

It struck Blake in the face, and she could feel it invading her nose and mouth. She tried to retaliate by firing her weapon, but her fingers felt so heavy that she couldn't pull the trigger. "Don't be scared," Roman said. His voice seemed so far away. "I'll have someone pick you up shortly. Try to treat him a little better than you did me."

That was that last thing she heard before she fell unconscious.

* * *

The first thing Blake noticed was her throat felt like she had slept with sand in it. The next thing she realized was that she was lying in a bed with a pillow under her head. She thought she might be back in her room in Beacon, but there were two voices that she didn't recognize talking to each other.

She kept her eyes shut, pretending to still be asleep, to try and get as much information as she could before making her next move. One of the voices was obviously male while the other was clearly female.

"Yeah, I got the call to meet him there," the male said. "He said he had something he needed me to pick something up. I didn't think it would be a girl."

"I hope you at least got some answers from him." The female didn't seem too pleased with the male.

"I tried but he left almost as soon as I arrived. He just told me I was doing a good job, but I'm still bad at the job. He also said that I owed him for saving the girl."

"Of course, he would do something like that. That man's a leech, but what did he mean with that job stuff."

"It's his cryptic way of telling me something without forcing me to use a scroll call. I think he was trying to tell me that we're on the right track, but we're made a wrong turn somewhere."

"How would he know what we're up to?"

"I've just accepted it."

"I haven't!"

"Sorry."

The female groaned. "Whatever, we just need to wait for that girl to wake up and tell us what happened. The sooner she's out of here the better. I already don't like her. A huntress-in-training out so late, without her team, screams hidden agenda or secret mission. We've got enough to deal with already. Don't what to stack any high school drama on top of that. Plus, she's sleeping in _my_ bed."

"You did not just call it _your_ bed!"

Anything else they said was lost as they talked over each other with childish bickering. At the very least, Blake felt like they weren't any threat to her. She was a huntress and ex-White Fang member. They sounded like civilians. They had probably just stumbled on her and brought her to their home since they wouldn't know who she was. She would just thank them and leave. No need to involve anyone else in her problems.

Blake groaned and tossed around like she had just woken up. She didn't want them to think that she had been eavesdropping on them. She made her eyes slowly flutter open as she took in the room she was in.

"The cat is finally awake," the female said.

 _Cat?_ Blake thought. That must just been a saying of hers. No way she could actually know that she was a faunus. Blake reached up to make sure her bow wasn't loose and had a mild-panic attack when it wasn't there at all. Her cat ears were open to the air, free for everyone to see.

Her eye shoot open, forgoing her pervious plan, and she bolted up with her hand over her ears like that would make the other two conveniently forget they were ever there. It was also the first time she got a good look at them and the rest of the room. She had been wrong about them being normal civilians. The girl had a venomous stare and a posture that made it clear who was in charge around here, and the consequences if you didn't agree. She didn't even try to hide the deadly weapons strapped across her butt. Huntsmen quality weapons weren't bought for a simple hobby.

The boy looked a little more aloof and kind of clueless. She didn't even know what to think about his bunny jacket, but it could just be in act carefully crafted to make her let her guard down. The sword on his hip wasn't anything special, probably just some junk that he worked on a bit to make it look a little better. Judging from the way he was slouching and the conversion Blake had overhead, he was likely the girl's assistant or possibly some addition muscle just in case. If Blake had to fight her way out of here she'd go for him. He looked exhausted, something Blake could understand if he was the girl's underling and had to put up with even half the stuff her personality seemed capable of.

As Blake planned and though the intensity of her situation was suddenly broken when the boy spoke in an almost whining tone. "Could you please stop looking at me like I'm an abused puppy. I'm no stranger to receiving pity, especially from my sisters and from people who know all my sisters, but you've literally just laid eyes on me. I even patch you up, some gratitude would be nice."

The girl beside him nearly doubled over in laughter. "Can you blame her. I'm mean just look at you. You don't exactly scream valiant warrior."

"If I recall," the boy said, unbelievably taking his eyes off Blake to look at his partner, "when I tracked you down you were terrified that I had come to kill you for stealing my journal."

That got the reaction he was looking for as the girl stopped laughing and jumped back up to refute him, face slightly red. "I was not terrified! I was cautions. A pathetic guy like you chasing down a thief for a stupid book wasn't natural. What was I supposed to think?"

This would have been the prefect chance to escape as the two of them fell into another bricking match, but Blake found herself rooted to the bed. Were these two crazy, or was this just a bit they were doing to make her lower her guard even further? "Who are you people?" Blake thought aloud.

The man turn back to her seeming embarrassed that he had forgotten his manners. "I'm sorry, we should have introduced ourselves. I'm Jaune."

The girl slapped the back of his head. "Idiot, don't tell here your real name. We don't know anything about her."

"This is Emerald." The girl, apparently Emerald, grew furious. Blake didn't even want to imagine what she was going to do to him for giving out their names. Maybe she could do something to protect him. "You're giving me that look again," he whined.

Whether it was intentional or not Blake couldn't help but relax. She didn't know what to think of these two. She wasn't going to say that she wasn't in any danger, but if those two wanted to hurt her they could have done it by now. That gu—Jaune had even warped bandages around her arm, so maybe they weren't as bad as she thought.

"Are you just going to keep sitting there like a log. We've got some questions to ask you, and once we're done you're leaving. I would actually like to get some sleep tonight and you're just being a freeloader."

…or maybe one was exactly as bad as she thought.

Jaune's jaw hit the floor as he turned in place with an expression like he just been told Remnant was flat. "You are the last person that should be talking about freeloading! You basically barged your way into living her."

"We made a deal. I provided a valuable service to you. This girl has done absolute nothing and we're not in the business of taking care of stray cats."

Oh, that's right. Blake still had to deal with the fact her faunus heritage had been revealed. She had actually forgotten having gotten caught up in these two's game. She couldn't lose focus. "Why did you remove my bow?" Blake demanded. "I haven't told anyone about my ears. How did you know that I was faunus, or where you just trying to do something to me while I was unconscious?" Looking around, this apartment did seem like the kind of dirty and rundown place that horrible guys would take girls to so they could have their way with them. If that guy really had done something like that with her, she would make sure he suffered.

"Wait, you were hiding your cat ears. I thought the bow was just some sort of fashion statement. I took it off to see if there were any injures plus it looked uncomfortable."

Blake flushed at Jaune's word. Was her disguise really so obvious? She knew it wasn't prefect, but if it couldn't even fool him, how many people at Beacon knew?

Blake slumped in a slight depression as she realized just how flimsy her new life really was. She hadn't even changed her name for Oum's sake. The teachers, at least, must know who she really was.

"Can you tell us about that attack already?" Emerald said, fed up with waiting.

As if her words had been a trigger, the memories of what happened before she woke up came flooding back. How had she forgotten about that, even for a moment? She should have woken up screaming and panicking over the injures to her arm, and as she thought about that her arm suddenly went from no pain to severe as if her wounds hadn't even been there until now. She griped her bandaged arm and clenched her teeth trying to force as much aura as she could to numb the pain.

Jaune looked visibly worried about her sudden distress and moved a little closer. Emerald only seemed annoyed that there was another delay. "Aren't you a huntress? Shouldn't you have a little more pain tolerance?"

"Ignore her," Jaune said resting a hand on Blake's shoulder and shooting Emerald a look, "she gets cranky when she's tried."

Blake choose to take Jaune's advice and breathed her way through the pain while thinking about that monster. Every detail of that thing was burned into her mind, and would probably haunt her until the day she died, from the way it moved to the smell of its breath. It should have killed her, but someone had saved her. She knew they had, but no matter how hard so thought she just couldn't recall who it was. Why was that part so hazy when every other detail of that incident was so clear? It hadn't been the two she was with now, and there had been something with smoke, but she just couldn't get any sort of picture in her head. It was almost like that part of her memory had been purposely redacted. Could it be a symptom of shock? Hopefully it would come back in time. She really needed to thank whoever it was.

Blake was able to answer her hosts questions once she got the pain in her arm to subside to a mild throbbing. She told them everything that happened while Jaune skimmed through a book that Blake swore appeared out of nowhere. Once she was done talking Emerald gave Jaune a questioning look to which he nodded and closed his book. This time Blake was sure it had just disappeared.

"Thank you for telling us this," Jaune said. "We were a bit stuck, but you really helped us out. You should probably get back to Beacon, though. Your scroll rang about half a hundred times since I brought you here. Judging from the voice messages it would seem that you have a lot of explaining to do. If you could do me a favor, though, and not saying anything about the creature that attacked you, I'd appreciate it."

"Wait a minute! I'm not just leaving. I've got some question of my own. What was that thing? Why did it attack me, and who exactly are you people?"

Emerald tossed Blake her ribbon and weapon with almost no care. "Just head back to Beacon and focus on killing grimm, that's what you signed up for. This is our territory so leave it to us. You're just an unfortunate bystander who got caught up in it. Go back to your loving team and forget this ever happen."

"I can't do that!" Blake fumed. She was not going to run away from another one of her problems just because Miss. Bossy didn't think she could deal with it. "That's the thing that's been killing faunus, right? I have to stop it."

"You have to stop it." Emerald hissed. "Why? Just because it's killing faunus and you're a faunus, or is it your sense of justice. Don't make me laugh. There's thousands of faunus who are still very much alive that you could be helping. Going after that creature when the two of us have already deicide to deal with that thing would be a waste of your time. Use that time to help someone who hasn't gotten any yet. Trust me they'll be way more grateful than the dead."

Emerald ended their conversation by more or less shoving Blake out of bed. It took everything she had to not straggle her with Gambol Shroud, but Jaune, sensing the dangerous atmosphere, calmly lead her out of the apartment. "Sorry about her," he said," but seriously go back to Beacon. Your team's worried about you. There's no reason for you to get involved in this. You have your job and we have ours."

Jaune gently shut the door on Blake, and waited until he heard her walk away, which took a long time with her pounding to be let back in, before turning to Emerald. She was already in the bed with the blanket pulled up to her nose. "You know, you were being a major bitch. Why were you so mean to her?"

"Didn't you already figure it out and announce it to the cat? I'm exhausted. You had us running around all night? You better not be expecting me to go out again. I don't care if that things kills every person in Vale. I need my sleep."

"I find it hard to believe that Emerald "the thief" Sustrai hasn't ever had to sacrifice her sleep before, and even if you do get a little more irritated, the way you went after that girl was pretty vicious."

"You're reading too much into things. That's the way I am to everyone. The kindness I treat you with is the anomaly not the other way around. You should feel honored." Jaune couldn't see it, but he knew that beneath the bed sheet Emerald had that that mischievous grin.

"You must think I'm an idiot—don't roll your eyes!" Jaune said, then quickly regained his composure. "The point is, there is one thing I've been getting really good at over these past few weeks."

"Please, enlighten me," Emerald said, sarcastically, "because I know it isn't your swordplay, and just because you can functionally use your aura now doesn't mean you've gotten 'really good' at it. It's something that should be expected."

"Your commentary is always appreciated, and I'm still grateful for your help in my training even if you do try to put me down at every turn, but those are not the things I'm talking about. Being a caretaker has forced me to become far observant, and something I've gain from this is I've gotten much better at reading people."

"Yet you still can't tell that I want you to shut up so I can sleep."

Jaune sighed and dropped his posh speaking pattern. "Listen, you clearly had something against that girl. Do you dislike faunus?"

"Do you really think I care how many appendages a person has?"

"Is it because she stood up to you."

"Like you're doing now?"

Jaune snapped his fingers. "I know. Is it because you were jealous? I brought a black-haired beauty—with cat ears—back to the apartment, bandaged her up and let her use _my_ bed. You were afraid she was going to fall in love with me and that I would leave you for her."

"I still have my weapons. Do you want me to kill you?"

"Then is it what she said about her needing to be the one to solve this?" Emerald opened her mouth for another witty remark but quickly shut it as her eyelids lowered into slits. It was Jaune's turn to grin. "Told you I've gotten better, but I still don't know why you got so angry. It's not like you have a huge investment to this case."

Emerald hated herself. Jaune had led her into that one and she walked in without resistance. She'd blame it on her current weariness, but that didn't get her out of this situation. "People like her disgust me."

"People like who?" Jaune asked not prepared for such a loathing response.

"People who care about the big problems that they have no hope of fixing on their own, but ignore all the little ones that they could easily solve."

"You're going to have to explain," Jaune said rubbing his hand down his hair and face. As much as his intuition had improved his partner was still a buddle of strange personality traits and thinking patterns. If he didn't know any better, he might have thought she was bipolar. "She was unconscious most of the time she was here. How could you have ever decided that so quickly."

"You aren't the only one with people skills," Emerald said," and despite your claims I pretty sure I'm superior. You brushed it off as a joke, but she was obviously very nervous that we exposed her as a faunus. I would say she's a least been through some discrimination and hiding it so people won't judge her for it, but at the same she clearly thought it was her job—her calling—to protect faunus."

"I don't see how that's a bad thing," Jaune said getting more confused as Emerald went on.

"In theory it's not, but in practice she's more useless than a person watching from the sidelines. She _had_ to kill that thing, give me a break. We've had already made our intentions clear that we would deal with it and whether she admitted it or not it's obvious that we knew far more than she did, but that wasn't good enough. She wanted to be the one to do it—needed to be the one to help. But how would killing that creature help anyone, especially the faunus she so desperately wants to protect? Prevent a murder where the victim doesn't even know there in danger in the first place doesn't change anything. As far as everyone else is concerned it would be a normal day. She's the type of person that will take a stand against a power, anti-faunus politician, but doesn't have the courage to call out a bully on their faunus harassment. Reminds of those rich guys who donate millions to charity to help the homeless but push them anyway if they ever come into eyesight of their luscious mansion. I can't tell you how many people walked by me, wishing me well and maybe even give me a few lien to feel better about themselves, but never did anything that actually helped me."

"You don't like her because she the person who's only willing to do big things and pass up the little guys like you?" Jaune said, finding some sense to Emerald words. If only a little.

"We're done talking about this," she said, turning to her side so most of her head was beneath the sheets. "I hope that cat's story was helpful to you."

"It was," Jaune replied willing to let the conversation drop. "I've figure what we're dealing with, but I still have no idea what's it's trying to do."

"What are we dealing with?"

"Nothing good. It's called a spider-slug, and it has a nasty little trick that's going to be a real problem for us. You know how Tukson was apparently dead for hours without anyone noticing. Turns, at that wasn't just fluke or a diversion strategy. They didn't notice he was there because they literately couldn't see him. The spider-slug could have even been building that thing right above everyone heads and no one would have noticed."

"So, it can create illusion like me?"

"No, it's a little more complicated. The book gave a very long explanation but here's the short version. You know how if something is moving fast enough that your eyes can't really see it and it just becomes a blur, and if it's really hitting crazy speed, you won't see it at all. Basically, it's like our eyes are cameras taking snapshots to relay the information to our brains, but it can only take snapshots so fast. Somehow spider-slugs can slip themselves, and other things they're interacting with, in between those snapshots and become completely invisible to us. It's like we're watching a movie but only seeing half the frames. It also means that your semblance, that creates illusions to trick the human brain, will be complete useless against that thing."

"If it can completely avoid our sight then how did the cat see it?"

"Apparently, it's not as perfect as it seems. It can get knocked out of sync by being hit, forcing it to dodge or it might just straight up make a mistake."

"That doesn't sound too bad. From what the cat said it doesn't seem to be the smallest or speediest thing around."

"I was thinking the same thing, but it's not the actual fight that has me worried. It's finding it in the first place. Obviously, my theory was wrong so we have no idea what's it's trying to do or where it might strike, and with that ability to completely avoid our sight and that sticky stuff it can make, it could be anywhere. Also, want to know another piece of information that makes this whole thing even more complicated? Spider-slugs are herbivores.

"You've got to be kidding me. Why has a plant eater been tearing people apart and hanging them up like an art display? Also, if it doesn't need to hunt and kill its food, why is it so strong?"

"If we assume proper evolution can even apply to that think it would kind of make sense. A great stealth ability to avoid predator and a massive strength if that doesn't work. Excluding grimm, herbivores are some of the hardest hitting, and thus most dangerous, animals on the planet."

"Great, I don't know what's worse, the murderous, and apparently vegetarian, monster running around, or that you just talked about it like you were reading form a biology book. I'm going to bed. Don't wake me. I don't care what you figure out. Even if that thing's plan is to incinerate all of Vale, I don't want to hear about it until I'm rested. Goodnight," Emerald said just as the sun started to peck through the window.

Jaune decided he need to get to sleep too. They needed a new plan or things were only going to get worse.

* * *

Excerpt from the book

 _It's strange to think about, but these creatures of the unknown world are not simply beings with their only defining characteristic being the ability to use magic. They have their own ecosystem and interact with the environment similar to how any other animal would._

 _This can blur that lines of what is a creature of the unknown and what is simply an undiscovered species. Not everything is so simple as watching something rise from the Abyss. I have already discussed in detail my belief of dividing the world into three categories of natural, unnatural, and supernatural so I won't retread, but like all theories put to paper it becomes much more complex when applied to the real world._

 _Humans and Faunus, for all purposes, are supernatural creatures able to harness the power of the anomalistic properties of aura, but since we are bound to our own lens of perception we could never consider ourselves anything but natural, so with that in mind, let me pose a question to any future readers._

 _If there are no fundamental differences between us and the creatures of the unknown world besides our perception of thing then why are we to believe that we are not the denizens of the unknown world?_

 _After all, while we like to see these creatures as encroaching on our world, there's an argument to be made that we're encroaching on theirs._

.


	13. Chapter 13

**An: Hey, I'm not dead. Yeah, sorry about that. My first two weeks at college were a lot busier than I thought they would be, and when you don't write for a little bit it's hard to start up again, but everything has calmed down now so hopefully I can return to a more regular update schedule. I realize that I'm not the best person on this site to keep with consistent updates, but I'm far from the worst, so don't hold it against me too much. This chapter is also long so that should help a bit.**

* * *

Blake was exhausted. She could only pick at her food, in Beacon's cafeteria, while her partner glared holes into her. Blake had returned to Beacon just in time for morning classes, so she hadn't gotten any sleep, and the second they had any free time Yang would confront her, very upset, and demanded answers. Russel and Sky were also clearly worried and curious but they seemed content with letting Yang handle all the talking, or in this case, yelling.

If they had expected any clear answers, however, they had been sorely disappointed. It was already lunch time and everything they asked her she either deflected or gave some flimsily excuse. Blake knew this was causing a fracture in her team, but telling them what really happened would not only require explaining that she was a faunus, with a connection to the White Fang, but they would have to believe her in the first place. If someone came to her and said they were attacked by some furry monster with two tongues, she would think they were crazy.

"Where were you last night?" Yang asked once again.

Blake rubbed her bandaged arm beneath the table. It still hurt and had gotten very itchy. "How many times do I have to tell you. I was out doing some shopping and lost track of time. By the time, I realized what time it was the last bullhead back to Beacon had already left, so I had to rent a room and spend the night in Vale."

"And you didn't think to inform your team or answers any of their calls?" Yang said.

"My scroll died and I didn't have a charger."

"You could have asked the hotel for theirs or just asked anyone on the street," Sky mentioned looking embarrassed to have said anything.

"You're also not looking too good. Almost like you didn't get any sleep at all," Russel said making it clear what he thought of his team leader's story.

"I'm sorry," Blake said looking at each one of her teammates. "I'm not used to this leadership thing. I made a mistake. Can you please stop nagging me about it?"

"This has nothing to do with being a leader," Yang yelled slamming her fist on the table causing Sky's drink to spill onto his food. "This is about being a friend. You can't just leave without saying anything. Don't you trust us?"

Trust? That wasn't a word that could so easily be thrown around. Blake had trusted someone before. Trusted them more than she did her own parents. Trusted that he was doing the right thing and would continue to do the right thing, but that trust had been peeled away until nothing was left. Yang might be able to believe in everyone she meets until proven otherwise, but for Blake trusting wasn't so easy.

"Just drop it, okay. Nothing happened last night that you need to worry about. I just wanted to check up on some things." Blake knew it wouldn't just be forgotten like that, but that was all she was willing to give them.

Team BRYL ate in awkward silence, only broken when Sky asked where Yang's little sister was. She always ate with them and usually brought her whole team along. Yang just shrugged saying she was doing something with her partner. Besides that, short exchange, the table remained quiet, going unnoticed by the noise of the lunchroom. Blake chose to focus on that instead of the angry, but pleading, look Yang gave her whenever their eyes caught each other.

The main topic of conversation was of course still about the two faunus murders. Some students were glued to their scroll as news stations brought the story up about every fifteen minutes. The police still didn't have any leads and it was putting people on edge, it was causing some parts of the population, especially the faunus parts, to claim that the police just didn't care about faunus death. There was already a faunus rights protest planning to be held the day after tomorrow.

Right now, it wasn't shaping up to be anything more than a walk through the city streets, but Blake knew that if this murder spree continued and no one was brought to justice, which wouldn't happen since no normal investigation could lead the police to that thing, things could get violent. Just from what Blake had overhead in the White Fang meetings last night, retaliation was on the forefront of their minds.

She didn't care what Jaune and Emerald had said. She had to stop this.

She was so lost in thought that she brought her fork down hard enough to get stuck in her tray. This did not go unnoticed by Yang. "Blake, you seriously need to talk to us. Whatever is going on we can help." Yang gestured to Sky and Russel who nodded in confirmation. "And if you really won't do that, at least get some sleep. You can barely keep your eyes open. I can cover for you in class."

Blake grinded her teeth. Why did she have to get such a nosy partner? Couldn't she see what was at stake here. There was no time to relax. True, Yang didn't know the entire story, but even from her point of view there was a serial killer running loose. If she was the huntress she claimed to be then she should have been demanding to go after him, but all she wanted to do was sit here and goof off.

Blake was about to say something that she definitely would have regretted later, but luckily, before her mouth could get her in trouble, another incident drew her attention away.

A thud of metal hitting the floor and a slight whimper. All of Team BRLY turned to see Cardin Winchester towering over a rabbit-eared faunus looking down with smug satisfaction at the lunch tray he knocked onto the floor. "Don't you know? Animals are supposed to eat from the floor," he said.

The girl's rabbit ears lower as she looked at her now ruined food. She didn't say a thing before she walked away, right out of the cafeteria.

Yang growled, her eyes briefly flashing red as she watched Cardin laugh it up. "I can't wait to kick his ass across the arena." Her anger towards her partner momentarily forgotten.

"Why wait till combat class? Why not just do it right here in front of everyone," Russel suggested.

"Idiot, that will just get her, and probably us, in trouble."

"We're huntsmen and huntresses. It's our job to protect people. How can we do that if we're afraid of getting in a little trouble," Russel said.

"Why doesn't she stand up for herself? She's a year above us, right? She should be able to wipe the floor with him easily."

The three of them look towards Blake, their leader, for input. As if they wanted her to make the final call. What did they want her to say? She didn't like what was happing either, but she couldn't jut order her partner to go and attack that racist. What would everyone else think if she did that? They would pay more attention to her, at the very least, and they might figure out she was a faunus, it had already been proven her cover wasn't exactly perfect, and if people found that out, they would label her.

Just another quick to anger faunus that uses violence when things don't go her way.

She came here to get away from all that. She would not risk it for something so stupid. Still, she felt bad for that girl. She had seen her around, but had never talked to her. It hurt to distance herself from her own race, but it was just another risk that she couldn't take. What good would talking to her even do. Even if they became friends and she found support in Blake, it would only be one person a little bit happier. The White Fang would still kill people and faunus would still suffer under the SDC.

Speaking of Schnees. "Someone else is going to handle it," Blake told her team, not sounding all too pleased with the outcome.

The heiress of the SDC, Weiss Schnee, approached Cardin. Blake didn't know how someone stomped with elegance, but somehow, she pulled it off. Cardin turned his head, glaring at the floor, but stood his ground against his team leader and partner. Behind the Schnee was Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie, the other two members of team CLWN. (Yes, it really was pronounced 'clown.' Yes, it was a school wide joke, and yes, the Schnee had been furious and summited multiple formal complaints to get it changed.)

The Schnee immediately started to berate and lecture her partner for his "uncivilized" and "childish" behavior. Blake took notice that at not a single point did the Schnee confront him about his choice of victims. To her the problem wasn't that her partner had harassed a faunus student, it was that his actions were hurting their team's reputation.

Not like there was much of a reputation to uphold.

Team CLWN was probably the most infamous team in their year, possibly even all of Beacon, and while most of it came for the Schnee's and Cardin's constantly clashing personalities and ideas, a large chunk of the blame could be laid at the feet of the overly energetic, some say half-insane, hammer wilding warrior.

If Cardin and the Schnee were like oil and water, Nora was the person vigorously shaking the beaker. Most of the time she was fine, forgoing the fact she was a walking wracking ball, but when Cardin bullied someone, or the Schnee gave any order she didn't agree with, things got heated fast.

Overall team CLWN consisted of a leader that wanted everything her way, a bully who believed he was above everyone, a girl who refused to be ordered around, and a guy who was too passive to fix any of it.

They were a dysfunction mess, and yet they felt more like a true team than BRYL ever had. Cardin, the Schnee and Nora might butt heads every other day, but when it mattered they could put it all aside. They had the highest team combat score by far. The Schnee was a brilliant strategized and coordinator. Cardin, who had first had been a thoughtless berserker, had been whipped into shape to become the team's nearly unbreakable wall of aura and muscles. Nora was an unstoppable powerhouse, and Ren was a quick hit-and-run fighter. Every argument they had was more like family bickering than actual fights. It kind of reminded her of how Emerald and Jaune had acted towards each other. Even now, it felt like the Schnee was an older sister scolding her younger brother for not playing nice with the other kids.

Blake turned away, not wanting to watch a second more. Her team was nothing like that. There was always this gap between them. They weren't distant from each other, but they differently weren't as close as they should have been. They had simple combos and solid teamwork, but it was nothing compared to the absolute area dominance team CLWN produced in the arena.

Blake clenched her fists. When everything was over, she promised to be a better leader.

* * *

Jaune was looking at Tukson's book store from across the street. There was a memorial in front of his store with flowers and pictures of the man. Everything relating to the crime scene had been removed, so Jaune wasn't hoping to discover anything new, he just wanted out of his apartment and some clean air while he thought. Emerald was still asleep, so it was just him, left alone to bounce ideas around in his own head.

He had gone over everything he knew about this case probably a thousand times. It was frustrating to feel so close to the answer but just not getting it. There was some way to track the spider-slug, or at least predict where it would strike, Jaune knew this because Roman hadn't just happened to be in the right place to save that girl. He had known where to be and had been waiting.

Jaune was also nearly certain that it had to do with the way the first two victims had been positioned. There was simply no other reasonable way to figure it out unless Roman had some special tool or piece of evidence Jaune didn't, but as much as a cryptic bastard as Roman was, Jaune didn't think he would actively withhold crucial pieces to the puzzle. Everything he needed he already had, there was no missing piece. It was what Roman must have meant when he said, "you're doing a good job, but you're still bad at it," but damn if he knew how those pieces fit together. He had mapped out a third point where that girl had been attacked, and that, combined with the other two victims, did make a triangle, but pretty much any third point would have made one. It didn't mean anything and it definitely didn't match up to where they had been pointing.

Could it really just be anywhere between those two lines Jaune had mapped, or had the spider-slug been planning to set her body up somewhere else and that was just where he had found his victim? Roman hadn't been at that _exact_ location, after all. From that girl's story, she had to fend for herself for a little bit, meaning Roman had been a little off the mark… or he could have just been waiting till the last minute to do something. Jaune could easily imagine that scenario. For being an underground criminal and a caretaker, Roman sure did love his theatrics.

There was also the question about all the victims being faunus. At first Jaune had dismissed it as mere coincidence, why would that thing care, but it was now three-for-three and the human population of Vale vastly outnumbered the faunus population. They had all been White Fang, too. Actually, that cat girl wasn't, or maybe she was. He should have asked her although thinking about it, she probably wouldn't have admitted it if she was. If she was part of the White Fang, did it even mean anything? As far as Jaune could tell the spider-slug seemed to attack its victims at night and most upstanding citizens wouldn't be out during that time. Since, assumedly, the White Fang would operate during those hours, it would make senses they would be the ones getting killed. That wouldn't answer why it was just faunus being killed, though. The White Fang weren't the only criminal elements that walked the night. So, did them being faunus matter? And even if it did, what could he do with that information?

Jaune paced into a nearby café and, took a seat, taped his fingers and shook his leg as he waited for the waitress to take his order. There was a mother trying to restrain her two kids as they begged to get one of the little cakes on display. Did they have to be so loud? Shouldn't they be in school, anyways. Actually, was today a weekend? That shouldn't matter. Didn't they know that someone had been killed here recently?

Jaune thought about getting up to inform the two children of the grisly event, but stopped when he realized what the hell he was actually thinking. The waitress came by and placed a drink in front of him. Jaune didn't remember ordering anything but he guessed he must have. He grabbed the drink and downed nearly half of it. He set the mug down and resisted the urge to spit it back out. He didn't like black coffee—he didn't really like any type of coffee. Why had he come in here again?

Jaune forced himself to stop.

He took a deep breath and tried to forget about everything.

He needed to slow down. He was starting to go insane. This problem was getting to him. The second he had woken up he had been fretting about, questioning if he should have even wasted time sleeping in the first place. Someone could have died while he had been in dreamland.

No one had, he reminded himself, but the thought still weighed on his mind.

Jaune took another deep breath. Instead of thinking about all the things he couldn't solve it was time to focus on the things he could. Roman had actually given him more information then he probably intended, simply from his appearance last night. He already mentioned how it proved that was a way to track the spider-slug, but it also gave some insight into what it might do. Roman had gone out of his way to stop it last night which implied that a third body was the last thing the spider-slug needed before it completed whatever it was trying to do, and Roman didn't what that. However, Roman was willing to let him take over meaning that even if Jaune failed, the results wouldn't be Remnant ending. That was a comforting thought, at least. Roman and him couldn't be the only caretaker in Vale, after all. The fact none of the others had stepped in probably meant they didn't think this issue was that important. Likely Roman had only stepped in because for whatever reason the spider-slug accomplishing its goal on that particular night would have been an inconvenience to him.

Still none of that helped him. It only made him feel a little better about his possible failure. Jaune needed something concert. Something that might push him in the right direction, and as sad as it was to admit, he wasn't going to find it on his own.

He was going to need a second opinion. He just hoped he wouldn't be killed trying to get it.

* * *

"You've got balls for coming back here. I'll give you that," Junior said from behind the bar.

Jaune was slouched over on his stool, starting to have second thoughts. The Malachite twins flanked either side of him, and since it was too early for the club to be officially open, there were no witness if something were to happen to him. He hadn't brought Emerald since putting her in the same space with the twins would sabotage any reasonable negotiation, but with the almost predatory look the girls were giving him, he was wishing he had.

"I'm just here for some information as a paying client. I don't want to start anything."

"I'm well aware of your commitment issues," Junior sneered.

"I apologized for that," Jaune said. "I didn't mean to disappear. It just some things happened and I couldn't call you."

"Yet, you can't tell me what that 'something' was. Not that it matters. I wouldn't have expected any excuses. You're lucky, most gangs don't let runaways off so easily."

"Stop associating me with your gang. All I did was cook food. I'm no criminal." So, what if he committed a handful of crimes, like forgery and robbery, and whose "friend group" comprised of exclusively criminals. None of that made him a criminal. Jaune Arc was straight as an arrow.

Junior sighed. "What is it that you want to know."

Jaune straightened up ready to get down to business. His reason for coming here was simple. If the White Fang really were being targeted by the spider-slug, Junior would be the one to ask. He would know if the White Fang had been up to anything odd lately. "You know about those two faunus that were murder recently?" Junior nodded. "I need to know who they were and what connection they had to each other."

"Why do you want to know about them?" Melanie said from his left.

"Yeah, you playing detective now?" Miltia echoed from his right.

"Something like that," Jaune replied looking at his ex-boss.

Junior held out his hand making it clear what he required. Jaune handed him a handful and lien and had to fish out more when Junior grunted in disapproval. Once the funds were appropriately transferred, Junior stashed it behind the bar and started talking. "Both of them, the bookstore owner and the farmer, were White Fang members, not just supporters but actual active members. They both ran hideouts were members could gather and hide stuff. Other than that, they kept mostly to themselves. I don't even think they ever personally met each other. There were rumors that the bookstore owner was trying to get out, but my sources say that the White Fang didn't make a hit, so if you're trying to find the killer, I don't know. Is that enough for you?"

"No, not really," Jaune said.

"Well, that's all I got. Those two were nobodies. I only looked into them after they were killed."

Jaune placed his head on the bar counter in defeat. Nothing Junior said had helped, and at the end of it all, it turned out Jaune had known more than him. He really shouldn't have put so much faith in Junior. He'd didn't know what was going on or had and real interest in it. Too him this was just another murder. How many of those must have happened daily in such a large city. Was Jaune really going to have to call Roman even after he had already shown up to give him a helping hand. He could already hear the orange-haired thief laughing at him and calling him an idiot.

"Before you kick me out, could you at least take a look at this and tell me if any of these places mean anything to you," Jaune asked pulling out the map he had marked on.

Junior took the map from Jaune's hand like he was a solicitor who wouldn't go away. "They just look like random spots in Vale to me," Junior said after looking at it for maybe five seconds. "What are these lines, though?"

Jaune, too gloomy to come up with a convincing lie, just told the truth. "They're the direction the two faunus were pointing when they died. I'm sure it means something, but I don't know what."

"What the hell are you getting up too?" Miltia said, honestly sounding a little bit worried.

"Honesty, I'm not sure myself anymore."

"The lines intersect you know," Junior said as if he was reading off a script.

Jaune shot up. "What are you talking about? Are you seeing the same thing I am? Those lines are completely straight. They aren't ever going to touch."

"They aren't on this flat piece of paper you drew them on, but Remnant's a sphere."

"Huh."

"Did you even go to school? Parallel line doesn't exist on a sphere because the curve of the sphere forces them to cross each other." Jaune looked at Junior like he was a Oum sent angel. "You seriously didn't know that?"

Jaune slowly shook his head. He was glad to see the Melanie and Militia weren't giving him any disappointed looks suggesting they hadn't known either. "So, where do they meet?" Jaune asked nearly jumping over the counter.

Junior gave him a rough shove to send him back. "I can't tell just from looking at it, and I'm not doing your math homework. Work it out yourself," He said, tossing the map back to Jaune.

He clutched at it with a new sense of hope. This was what he had been missing. "I could kiss you right now."

"Try it and you'll be leaving her in pieces."

"I'll accept one," Melanie teased.

Jaune was in such exhilaration that he didn't even think. He embraced Melanie and gave her a quick, sloppy kiss on the cheek before running out of the club to find a library or someplace else that could get him what he needed.

Melanie was as stiff as a statue as she brought her hand up to her check, feeling some of Jaune's saliva. Melanie was never one to shy away or be embarrassed by anything sexual, but she didn't know how to react to this, and the bright blush on her face made it very clear.

Miltia burst out laughing a second later.

* * *

Emerald walked down the wide streets of Vale's industrial district. When she had woken up Jaune was already gone. She had called him, but all she got in return was the grating sound of his half-coherent ramblings. Emerald hoped he wasn't acting like that in public or they would put him in a mental hospital.

Jaune hadn't given her any instructions, but she wasn't some dog waiting around for her owner to come back. At first, it had just been going out to do some things around town. It was nice to walk around and not be on the watch for potential targets and police, but it also got boring very quickly.

She couldn't have been out longer than a few hours, but it was becoming a slog to walk through stores and hear middle-aged women argue about which was the better deal. What kind of lives did these people live where they could argue about something like that? Their idea of excitement was probably the cliffhanger at the end of their weekly show.

Emerald missed her blond roommate. Jaune was fun. He was a little dumb and overzealous, but he knew how to live. Nothing was too insane for him as long as he thought it needed to be done. She thought about finding him and tagging along with whatever he was doing for the investigation, but that would just make her an observer, hardly better than what she was doing now. Jaune wasn't the only one who could do this. She had a working brain. She could investigate without him, hell, she had done most of the legwork at Bury anyways.

This led her to the industrial district, where the cat Jaune had brought home had been attacked. Emerald didn't know the exact location, but Jaune had given her a general idea. Unlike at night, the industrial district was filled with the heavy sounds of machinery and men running around as containers were moved for one place to another.

She got an odd look from time to time, but nobody tried to stop her or were too bothered by her presence. They were all too busy with their job to hit on her either. Although they did still steal glances, it was a much better setting than the main city where teenage boys with nothing to do sat around drinking and trying their luck with anything with a womanly shape.

Emerald didn't blame them for trying to chat her up. She was gorgeous. Her dark, exotic skin tone, her slim figure, and her perfect hair put her above the model-like huntresses, in her opinion. Her looks were the only gift her birth-parents, whoever they were, ever gave her, and she wasn't going to let them go to waste. A thief had to use ever weapon available to them although her fists clenched and her eyes hardened as she thought back to what she had to give up in order to have her aura unlocked.

Without really paying attention, Emerald managed to find her way to the attack site. There was nothing distinctive about it or any odd feeling about the area, but Emerald knew that this was the place because it turned out she wasn't the only person who had this idea.

A sneaky little feline was crouched near a building, examining the wall. "Shouldn't the kitty be in school." Her bow perked up and her hand went to her weapon as she jumped to face the sudden voice. Her amber eyes narrowed when they landed on Emerald and for a minute it looked like she was going to run away, but she quickly realized that wouldn't do anything.

"I would appreciate if you called me by my name. It's Blake," she said, her hand still hovering over her weapon. "and classes are done for the day."

"Don't you have clubs to go to or even friends to hang out with," Emerald mocked.

"This is more important."

"I'm sure." Emerald made sure the cat saw her eyes roll. "Didn't we tell you to leave this alone, though?"

"You don't get to decided what I do or don't do."

"Ture, but you're just wasting your time. You don't even know what you're doing. Tell me, how much insight has looking at that wall given you?" Emerald was glad to see the girl's features harden in irritation and embarrassment.

"At least, I've been trying. You just got here."

"It's call relaxing, something you've clearly neglected."

"How can you say that! People are dead. That thing killed them, and nobody is trying to stop it. Nobody even knows it exists. I'm the only one."

Emerald's mischievous smirk vanished as she genuinely got angry. "Are you serious? The _only_ one. Do you even remember who you're talking to? We said we would handle it? There is absolutely no reason for you to interfere."

"Clearly there is. You say I don't know what I'm doing, but I think it's the other way around. You say you have this handle, yet I've been in school all day and still beat you here. What have you been doing this entire time."

Emerald shrugged. "Like I said, I've been relaxing. Walked around town for a while. I also slept in. We were out late last night, and not all of us got to take a cat nap."

Emerald knew that Blake wouldn't like that answer, but the sheer anger that worked its way into her body took even Emerald by surprise. "Do you even care what might happen if that thing is left to roam free! If it kills another faunus there's going to be a riot. More people will die."

"You're being dramatic. People are scared and uncertain, not violent and crazy."

"You don't know the White Fang like I do. Anything they can use to blame humans they will, and if they think they have the momentum things will get violent, fast."

"Let's say I believe you, and the White Fang really is preparing for a huge terrorist attack. What is this creature-hunt you're on going to do to stop it?"

"If I stop it another faunus won't have to die, and the White Fang—"

"Do you hear yourself! Do you honestly believe that preventing one murder will change anything? The spider-slug isn't the only thing that kills people. Some poor faunus could be getting stabbed to death right now. You killing this thing isn't going to bring any conclusion to the crime. Faunus will still be mistrustful of the police. Tension between humans and faunus aren't going to go away, and the White Fang will just find something else. If you want things to change you have work towards it, not just play whack-a-mole with every new problem that shows up. At best, you're just restore things to the status que."

"Then why are you doing this, huh! What are you going to get from killing this monster?"

Emerald couldn't take it anymore. Her stiff and ready stance, that was normally reserved for fight, was loosened as she took a calming breath. "You sad, sad girl. We're doing this because it's our job. Jaune might be doing it so he can save someone's life and feel like a hero, but that's more of a motivation than the reason he's specifically tracking this monster. The simple fact is that this is the job we stumbled on and we plan to see it through. Did you know that if this had turned out to be a crazy serial killer we were just going to leave it be?"

Whatever words Blake was about to say died when she heard that. Her mouth hung open and her arms slacked to her sides. "What is wrong with you.?" The faunus seemed to beg for an answer. "You can't abandon people, walk by them when they need help."

"This is the last time I'm going to say it. It is not our job to help anyone and everyone. We deal with a certain type of issue, and leave other types of issues to other people. It's how society works. I lived on the streets until not too long ago and even I know that, yet you don't seem to understand that simple concept. Would you yell at an accountant for not helping to deliver a baby? Just go back to Beacon and kill the grimm like a good little huntress."

"I'm not giving up."

Emerald was glad that her scroll started ringing because she wasn't sure if she wanted to continue this conversation. Words would never bridge the ideological gap between them.

Emerald had no problem taking the call right in front of Blake, knowing it could only be Jaune. "I figured it out," he said. "I know were the spider-slug is going to attack, or at least where it wants to attack."

Emerald smirked making sure to talk loud enough so Blake could hear. "You found out where the creature is, that's great. Where is it? I'll meet you there." The scowl of the cat's face made it all worth it.

"Would you be able to find it if I gave you the longitude and latitude coordinates?"

"Um…no."

"Are you at the apartment? I can meet you there, need to pick up my sword anyways.

"I'm actually in the industrial district. Wanted to do some digging of my own."

"That's great, actually. The location is just a few blocks away from where that girl was attacked. I'll send you the location and get there as fast as I can. I don't think it will try anything until nightfall, but be careful."

"You don't need to worry about me, I'm more scared about you tripping over your shoelace and hurting yourself while running to get here."

"Hardy har har. Seriously, though, this thing is dangerous."

"Okay dad, I won't take candy from strangers, and I won't get into any strange cars." Emerald paused and stole a glance at the feline who was subtly trying to listen in. Happy with the distance between them she softened her voice. "But thanks for caring."

Emerald ended the call. "That was my partner," she told Blake as if she couldn't have guessed. "He found what we're looking for, so I'll be off. Feel free to look around here to your heart's content."

"I'm coming with you," Black said quickly matching Emerald's footsteps.

"Are you sure you're not a goldfish faunus because if after that conversation, you think I'm going to let you follow me, you've got some serious problems."

"I know you don't want me to come but you can't stop me. If you try to force me away, I'll just follow you from the shadows."

"Then I'll just give you the slip."

"I won't be that easy to lose."

"We'll see."

The two girls walked away while the real Emerald leaned on the warehouse wall. The cat would realize the trick soon enough, but Emerald would already be long gone by then.

Illusions were so convenient.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Emerald asked.

Jaune picked up a mostly burnt through cigar he found on the ground, it was the exact type Roman smoked. "Yeah, no doubt about it." They were still in the industrial district, but instead of the endless rows of warehouses where cargo was stored, they were stood in a fenced-in area besides a huge factory. It was filled with only huge piles of gravel and some rusting pieces of metal.

"If it doesn't show up soon, we're going to be in trouble."

Jaune had to agree. The sun had dipped into the horizon about an hour ago. If it wasn't for the etch that Jaune made to produce some light, they wouldn't have been able to see at all, but it wouldn't last forever and had already begun to fade. It was just another problem with his etches. He really needed to learn more techniques. His only other magic wasn't much more than glorified storage. The goal was to be able to store his sword and shield in the Apeiron and be able to bring them out at a moment's notice, but that was more complicated than he thought it would be, and even if he got it down, his swordplay wasn't really at a level where it could assist him against any huge threat. With Emerald's help he had gotten better, but huntsmen level skills weren't built in a couple of weeks.

His etches were supposed to cover for his lack of offensive strength, and did a good enough job when Emerald could distract the target, but the longer he was using them the more he realized some of their glaring flaws. Three in particular could make them absolutely useless in certain situations. The first was the one he had been dealing with since the beginning. Etches were slow to make and pretty inflexible when you started which wouldn't be too bad expect for it feeding into the second problem. There was no way to add a delay to them. Once he finished drawing them they activated. Jaune had created a pseudo workaround by drawing most of the etch but not quiet finishing it. It allowed him to set up a couple different options like he had back in Bury, but it wasn't perfect. He still had to be by the etch to finish it, and he just had to guess what etches he might need, and since every little change made the etch do something different, he would have to guess exactly right. The millions of variations also made it impossible to carry a load of near completed etches around, drawn on playing cards or something. Searching through the deck for the right one would probably take more time than just drawing it from scratch.

They were both serious problems, but as long as he had Emerald around they weren't insurmountable. The third problem, however, would likely be the death of him if he ever encountered it. He had only thought of it recently, but it was no less critical. If Jaune ever had to fight anyone with any knowledge of etches he'd be done for. It wouldn't matter how fast or proficient he became at using them. By their very nature, it was him drawing a diagram of exactly what he was going to do. It would be like shouting out your attack before you did it. Roman had already proven that Jaune wasn't the only one with this knowledge, and it wouldn't be hard to believe that some of the otherworldly beings would know about them too. It worked both ways, of course, but Jaune didn't have anything else to rely on while he was sure someone like Roman had a thousand different tricks.

"Why are you so pale?" His partner stated. "We're going to beat this thing no problem. If it ever shows up, that is."

"Maybe it got spooked by Roman and it's too scared to attack anyone," Jaune joked.

"Wouldn't that be a kick in the shin. We'd have to keep coming back every night until it grows a pair."

"Are you suggesting you're not enjoying our bonding time?" Jaune said, faking offence.

"Aw babe, are you really that lonely? Isn't sleeping together enough for you?"

"I don't know who your trying to embarrass with your suggestive remarks. There's no one else here, and I know full well we only sleep in the same room."

"I'm hoping the spider-slug has a sense of humor. We might be able to hear it if it starts laughing."

"This is serious business you know. This thing was able to overpower a Beacon huntress. It could be preparing to kill us right now, and we would never know since it has that invisibility trick."

"I doubt it had to be that strong to take down the little kitty, and didn't you already make it so it can't sneak up on us?" Jaune nodded. His light etch was doing more than just allowing them to see. Just because the spider-slug could slip between their vision didn't mean it wasn't there. If the spider-slug tried to sneak up on them the etch would work as an alarm since the light wouldn't be able to pass through the spider-slug making it very easy to tell where it was. "See, so we've got nothing to be afraid of expect dying of old age waiting for it to show up. Seriously, we're standing in the exact spot it wants to kill someone with our guard down, at least from its perspective. What more could it want?"

In the distance a burst of noise cut through Emerald's complaints. It sounded like gunfire, probably because it was. Jaune jumped to his feet coming up with the answer to Emerald's question. "A faunus."

It wasn't long until they had made it to the source of the noise. Dim streetlights lit their way, so they were able to see the large, fury creature in their path. For some reason, it was stuck in the middle of the street with one of its leg trapped in an ice sculpture of the cat faunus Jaune had brought back to the apartment. He didn't really have time to question how strange it was as Emerald sprinted ahead of him, transforming her weapons and swinging the blades at the creature's hind. At the same time, another swinging blade came at the creature's face.

The three blades cut deep gashes into the creature causing it to arch its body in pain and release a horrible splutter of noise. It legs trashed around widely, trying to hit the things causing it harm. A black streak dove between the moving appendages and managed to sever one at the base. Red blood splatter onto the ground as the disembodied leg continued to twitch a few moments longer.

The spider-slug's two tongues shoot out in a screech of spit and pain. It was enough for the creature to dislodged it's trapped leg and use the still attached ice as an improvised mace to strike at the figure who had taken it leg. The figure dodged away easily, landing between Jaune and Emerald."

"How did you know to come her?" Emerald growled.

"You might have gotten me with that trick, but I knew where you lived. All I had to do was wait there until he came back and then track him," the cat faunus said. Emerald gave Jaune a very nasty look.

"I'm not your enemy here," Jaune pleaded as he watch the creature hobble around to face them. It seemed to recognize how much danger it was in because in the time it took a person to blink it disappeared. "I don't think so," Jaune said as he finished the etch he had been drawing.

The air in front of his twisted to form a miniature tornado. The spider-slug quickly reappeared as it was tossed round by the razor-sharp wind.

Emerald and the other girl fired their weapons while this was happing, and within seconds the monster's fur was gaining little red polka dots. As the winds died down, the spider-slug saw its chance and rushed the three teenagers forcing them to move out of the way. It didn't try to attack any of them, but kept heading straight, running away.

The group gave chase.

"You were supposed to leave this to us," Jaune said as they ran.

"It's the two of you who could have stayed home," the black-haired girl replied. "I wasn't having any issue killing it alone. The three of us are just overkill."

Jaune had to begrudgingly agree. Most of the spider-slug's power came from it getting the drop on people. With the three of them having gotten the drop on the creature it wasn't putting up much of a fight. Jaune wasn't sure how he felt about dragging this girl into what was supposed to be his job, but she wasn't exactly putting herself in anymore danger than she would be if she were fighting grimm so maybe it was okay.

They chased the monster back to the factory yard. It was clearly losing steam as it struggled more and more to outpace them. It crouched down and leaped towards the factory wall in an attempt to climb onto the roof and lose them that way, but it didn't even make it up halfway. It produced that sticky substance to try and climb the rest, but the girls would riddle it with bullets long before it could make it to the top. It had nowhere left to go; this fight was over.

The creature had enough intelligence to come to that conclusion too because it stopped trying to climb up and turned its body to face them. Instead of coming down to fight them in a desperate attack, it pasted its back to the wall and held out its top two legs in front of it in a 'V' shape like it was trying to grasp something.

It was very odd, and caused Jaune to wonder what it was trying to do. It only took a second for him to put it together. "Stop!" Jaune yelled to the advancing girls. Emerald headed his warning and stalled her attack. Blake did out.

She jumped into the air and delivered a massive diagonal cut across its entire underbelly. The creature expired a moment later with its top slumping over, but it's arms locked in the same position. "See," she said once she landed wiping the blood from her weapon, "I know what I'm doing."

Emerald huffed not liking the happy smile the cat was wearing. "Why did you want us to stop?"

Jaune went completely still waiting for the disaster to begin. For a while nothing happened and Jaune dared to hope that the spell hadn't been completed and the spider-slug's body wasn't suitable for the third victim, but soon enough the air grew thick and seemed to fill with the very essence of dread. A cold chill ran through Jaune's body like a bunch of tiny bugs crawling just under his skin. Looking at the girls he could tell they felt it too.

Then Jaune heard something. It was faint right now but quickly getting closer. It sounded like the beating of wings.

* * *

School paper writing for an Atlas science class.

 _Merlot_

 _In literature and witness accounts, the phrase "I could feel that someone was watching me" or some other variation is often used to lead credence to a stalker or other dangerous individual hunting the person who made the claim. In order to see if this could actually be true many experiments were done to see if a person really could recognize when someone was watching them. The answer was a definite no. Neither faunus nor humans, regardless if their aura was unlocked or not, could tell if they were being watched, yet this claim keeps appearing and people insisted that they could tell. Either there is some massive conspiracy for people to lie about this feeling, they're simply crazy or too influenced by other who've stated the same claim, or they're telling the truth. A conspiracy would simply be idiotic, and these cases are far too common for it to simply be a figment of the imagination, but how could it be the truth if scientific experiments have proven it false?_

 _It's possible there is a problem with the experiment. They all focus on the ability of the person being watched to perceive their watcher, but perhaps it not them we should be observing but the watchers themselves. What if these violent people, who prey on the general population, are the ones whose very gaze cause a physical reaction in those being watched._

 _Teacher comment: Merlot please try and focus your writing to subjects that actually have scientific backing. You have a great mind and your theories are interesting to read, but they more often than not live in the realm of fantasy. If you keep your feet on the ground I'm sure you'll do great things._ _ **62/100 D-**_

* * *

 **An: Once upon a time I thought this arc was only going to be two chapters, but things happen. I hope you all enjoyed Emerald's and Blake's argument. I'm honestly not really sure what I'm doing with it. In the last chapter I came pretty close to cutting out the part about Emerald yelling about Blake but left it in honestly to just pad out the chapter, yet everyone seemed to really like it so I tried to build on it.**

 **Also, this didn't get a huge explanation since I didn't want to drop an entire technical paper in the middle of the chapter, but if you want to know more on how the parallel lines on a sphere work and how they actually do intersect check out Vsauce's video** _ **Which Way is Down**_ **on YouTube that should help explain things better than I ever could.**


	14. Chapter 14

Everything was very still. It was like that moment in a theater when the lights dimmed but no one had gotten on stage yet. It was that kind of stillness that not even a needy child would dare break.

A soft hum was present. All three of them could hear it but not a single one of them could locate it. It was hard to explain but it seemed impossible for a such a subtle sound to be heard from as far away as it appeared to be. Like hearing someone rustle their sheets from across the street.

Finally, the feline faunus broke the long uninterrupted noise. "What's going on?"

Jaune strained his ears trying to find even the slightest chance in volume or pitch. There was nothing…nothing…nothing…nothing—something! "Move!" Jaune shouted to the girl whose name he still didn't know.

This time she didn't hesitant to follow orders as she leapt to the side just as something from the sky impacted the place where she had just been standing, sending a gravel wave flying in every direction.

Jaune hosted his shield to block the incoming projectiles while Emerald dropped to her stomach letting everything fly over her. Once he felt the gravel stop banging off his shield, Jaune lowered it just enough for his eyes to peek over.

Standing at the impact site was a creature that shared much in common with the spider-slug they had just killed. This one however was only a little over half the size of the original and had two transparent wings growing from its back.

The stillness had returned again as everyone tried to process their new situation. The new creature's wings twitched as it circled around its new environment, seemingly confused. Both of the girls picked themselves off the ground and backed away slowly. Spider-slug 2.0 didn't even register them as it continued to search for something.

Emerald made her way to Jaune's side. "What is that thing?" She whispered, guns trained and eyes focused on the creature looking for any signs of hostility.

"I don't know," Jaune replied. "There was nothing in the book about these things having wings."

"What's the matter?" the last, temporary, member of their group said. "If there's another one we just have to kill it too."

"The reason we have to deal with this one at all is because you went and killed the first one without thinking, kitty cat."

"I told you to call me Blake."

"And Jaune told you to wait. Looks like none of us are getting what we want tonight."

"Even if this is my fault, I don't see what the problem is. We just have to take care of one more monster. Do you know how many grimm we're expected to fight at once?"

"That isn't a grimm. We have no idea what it can do, and it only takes one surprise to end us, or did you already forget about the one-way beat down you were handed by one messily monster?"

"Both of you shut up!" Jaune said as loudly as he was comfortable with. "What's done is done. Our job got an extension and that's what we need to focus on." He might have sounded confident and commanding, but on the inside, he was barely able to keep his heart inside his chest. Emerald was right, they had no idea what this new creature could do. Even if it was just a different type of spider-slug, the wings alone would make it much harder to restrict it. Jaune didn't have any ranged option besides his etches and there was no way he could use them on something so fast.

Currently, spider-slug 2.0 was flying around it's fallen comrade like a hummingbird. It was almost like it was in a panic as it kept checking ever inch of the original spider-slug. Obviously, the triad of corpses had been used to summon this newcomer, but for what purpose?

Suddenly the flying creature latched onto the spider-slug, tightly gripping its fur between its claws and just stayed there. An entire minute passed and it still didn't move. "What is it doing?" Emerald asked the question on Jaune's mind.

"Hugging the corpse?" Blake said. "Almost like it's in mourning."

Jaune took another look. If he squinted really hard and used a generous amount of imagination, he could kind of see what Blake was getting it. Two lover caught in a tragic embrace. "Oh no," Jaune said as he came to a realization, "I think we just killed that things mate."

As if it had heard him, the flying creature pulled away from its counterpart, nudging its face against it like it was giving it a goodbye kiss, before turning to their group. Jaune didn't need to see its eyes to know that it was in a fury, and if none of the other signs gave it away the moment it dive-bombed them was solid confirmation. The gang was split apart as they all had to dodge in a different direction. The creature didn't seem to mind pounding itself into the ground because before the gravel settled, it was charging again. Of course, the unlucky target was Jaune.

His footing was too uneven after his last maneuver to dodge, so his only choice was to bring his shield up and hope for the best. The speeding project crashed into him. His shield arm trembled from the impact and it was a miracle he was able to stay standing.

Stuck in a shoving match with the creature, Jaune pushed his body into the shield, turning whenever he could feel it trying to move to the side. keeping the two of them locked in place. He could feel its claws scrapping against his shield. It didn't seem to be as strong as its larger counterpart, but what it was lacking there it was more than making up for with its speed and viciousness.

Knowing this couldn't go on forever, Jaune brought his sword around hoping to score at least a grazing strike on his foe from his awkward position. His sword would never make it, though, because at the same time the monster shot out one of its long tongues, wrapping it around Jaune's sword arm. The piece of flesh was surprisingly strong, easily bringing Jaune's swing to a halt, but worse than that was that part of his arm started to sting horribly. It didn't matter that he had aura or clothes between his skin and the creatures tongue. It felt like he had shoved his arm into a cactus.

The pain was enough to weaken his grip on his shield and the creature surly would have pushed through if a series of bullets didn't force it to retreat. It unwrapped its tongue from Jaune's arm and flew away as Blake chased it down.

The pain in his arm subsided immediately, but it was still very much there. Rolling up his sleeve revealed no signs of external damage, but Jaune felt he could take a marker and draw around the exact area where it still hurt.

"Damn it," he heard Emerald shout. He had to ignore the pain for now as he looked over to see what was going on only to see that nothing was going on.

The creature had disappeared.

Jaune echoed Emerald statement. It had the same trick as the original except this time it had the entire sky to hide in.

The stillness had returned as the three teenagers looked into the night sky. Coming together would only make it easier for them to be attacked so they stayed about an equal distance apart. At least that way if one was hit the other two could support. Not a great plan, making one of them a sacrificial pawn, but there weren't many other options. The buzzing of its wings could still be heard, but it sounded like it was coming from every direction, so that didn't help. The only thing they could do was wait.

It didn't take very long for something to happen, it just wasn't what Jaune expected. It was barely visible, a fist sized ball of a clear substance similar to what the spider-slug had used to stick to walls, but this was thicker which was the only reason Jaune noticed. It just appeared in the sky with no warning and started its descent towards Emerald. She didn't notice it, so it ended up being Jaune screaming at her to move.

Emerald took a second to verify who was talking to her before she moved, and that, along with how late Jaune's warning came, cost her. She avoided most of it, but when the ball hit the gravel it splashed the back of her legs. She stumbled and winced in a very similar way to what Jaune had probably done when his arm had gotten caught. Whatever substance this thing produced was more of a weapon than what the original produced. Made sense since being able to stick to things didn't really matter if you could fly. An advantage for it and a serious problem for them. If it could just fly around and drop that stuff on them, they would never be able to counterattack.

Jaune's theory was proven correct when Black had to dodge a ball of her own, and then another, and then another. Soon enough it felt like it was raining the stuff. Constantly moving was the only way to avoid them.

An occasional shot was fired as the girls tried to track the creature through its trail of falling slime, but so far none of them had found their mark. The creature wasn't so dumb that it was just following a straight line.

Jaune racked his brain for a plan. They could try waiting for it to exhaust itself but that was dangerous, time-consuming and unreliable, he didn't know if that thing could even get tired. There had to be another way.

Jaune darted around looking for an answer when his eyes landed on it. The etch he had made which was currently giving them their light. He had also made it to deal with this exact problem, so that even if the spider-slug was invisible when it approached it would still cast a nice defined shadow. Sadly, that plan become ineffective the moment their foe could leave the ground, but plans and etches could be adjusted.

Jaune worked as fast as he could to redraw the etch before the creature targeted him, and only barely finished before he had to roll away from the stinging rain. Now instead of light coming from the etch itself, an orb of light hovered high above them. Jaune had hoped this would cause the creature to cast a shadow on the ground, but it was far too dim to accomplish that goal. Jaune cursed, he knew that the farther an effect was from the etch the less power it had, but the loss in luminosity from making it hover twenty feet off the ground was absolutely ridiculous. It was barely enough for him to see anymore. None of his other etches had been this badly affected. He couldn't have screwed it up, or it wouldn't have worked at all. It had to be a problem with the etch itself, or could it be a problem with light in general. Now that he thought about it, the etch at Junior's club had been created with lights and that thing had been huge. It should have had enough power to burn down an entire city block, yet it had only been enough to cook burgers. If etches made of light produced weak effects than it was safe to assume the inverse was also true.

Great, just another problem to add to the list: etches don't play well with light. Who knew how many other little rules like that there were. Jaune really needed to invest in something a little less sporadic.

The bombardment never stopped as they ran around helplessly. The projectiles weren't that hard to dodge if you saw them coming, but they were hardly obvious. The substance also didn't just go away when it hit the ground. It formed little pools in the gravel causing it to splash onto you if you weren't paying attention and stepped in it too hard. Aura didn't do anything to stop it and only their shoes seemed thick enough to keep the substance from seeping through. In that regard, Jaune was lucky to have a shield to use an umbrella. Blake had her faunus eyes to help her see in the low light, curtsey of Jaune accidently dimming them down, but Emerald, with her semblance being ineffective, didn't have a single advantage, sadly something the creature seemed able to pick up on.

At first it was a just a drop on the shoulder, a splash on the finger, nothing the rest of them didn't have, but as she was evading another falling ball of goo she ran into something. Crashing into the monster was enough to knock it out of its invisibility, but it didn't matter. There was no time for Emerald to react before the creature opened its jaw and used both its tongues to lick her from the bottom of her knees all the way up to her forehead. It only took a second for the creature to completed its task, fly away and turn invisible again.

Emerald collapsed to her knees then to her side as she clutched her face. She didn't scream but it was clear she was in pure agony. She kicked that gravel and clenched her teeth as she went through what must have felt like a million thorns piercing her body, but her suffering wasn't over. Presented with an immobile target, the monster didn't waste any time dropping a ball of goo on her. It hit her dead on, covering her in a glossy shine.

This time she couldn't hold back the screams.

Jaune had already been running the moment Emerald collapsed, but he wasn't built for speed, unlike the other person there, and couldn't make it before the second attack struck. He vowed to not let there be a third as he pushed his legs even harder. Quickly, he scooped Emerald up, not caring that just being in contact with her was causing his chest and arms to burn.

He brought her behind a large pile of gravel which couldn't really be called safe but was better than anything else. He leaned her against it and watched the sweat build up on her forehead. There wasn't even so much as a reddish rash adorning her skin, but she clawed at it like she was going to rip it off. The only noticeable difference was the slight glossy glow she had thanks to that coat of goo. He went to work rubbing as much of it off as he could by ripping off a piece of his shirt with one hand while the other grabbed Emerald's weapon and fired wildly into the air to keep the creature from flying over them. His hand burned with pain as he did it until even the slightest movement made him whimper, but he didn't stop.

Sadly, whatever relief he was able to offer once he finished was minimal at best. Emerald's eyes were still scrunched in pain and here breathing rapid, but at least she wasn't trying to peel her skin from her body.

There was no time for him to rest, though. It was a miracle the creature hadn't hit them yet, and Jaune didn't have infinite ammo nor did Emerald have infinite time. There was no way to know if this stuff stopped at only severe pain, was fatal if enough got on you, or if Emerald was already suffering a slow, agonizing death. All Jaune knew was he had to end this fast.

Drawing an etch in record smashing time he erected a rocky dome around his partner. It wasn't anything that would protect against any sizeable force, but it would keep her safe from the goo bombs, he refused to recognize it as drool, and hopefully the monster would focus on the active targets.

Returning to the battlefield, Jaune caught up with Blake. "We need to do something," he said.

"If you have any ideas I'm happy to hear them," She replied.

"Not going to lie, I thought you would have one."

"And I thought you were the one claiming to be the professional. My plan is to keep swinging and shooting until I hit it."

Trying until they got lucky was not what Jaune wanted to hear, but that was really the crux of the problem. Jaune remembered reading somewhere that since the dawn of time the key to winning any fight was to get in a position where you could hit your enemy but they couldn't hit you, and right now they were on the losing side of that equation.

They needed a way to see their enemy, but the only way Jaune could think of accomplishing that was to get a bright light above the thing. If it cast a shadow on the ground they would have no problem finding it, but the little nightlight he had already put up wasn't cutting it and he couldn't draw an etch in the sky…or maybe he could.

"Blake, how far can you throw your weapon?"

Blake seemed unsure if should even answer the strange question. "Not as far as my bullets can reach."

"But far enough to reach the creature?"

"I guess."

"Give me you weapon."

"What! No, are you trying to get me killed?"

"It's fine, I've got plan. I'll lend you one of Emerald's weapons if it makes to feel better. They're pretty similar."

"I don't know how to use it. I'll be completely ineffective."

"Because you're doing so much damage with you own weapon right now." Despite that valid point, Black was still reluctant to release her weapon. Why did Oum curse him to always have to deal with stubborn girls? They just kept getting worse.

"What are you going to do to it?" Seriously, she wanted him to explain his plan while they were running around avoiding very painful projectiles? Was it too late to go back home and become a farmer or something. He could let his arm get hit, run away and claim injury leave.

No, Emerald was still suffering and he couldn't just leave her, so he explained his plan to Blake as fast as he possible could. "I'm going to draw an etch on it."

For some reason, she just clutched her weapon tighter. Oh, enough of this. Jaune finally reached over and forced the weapon from her grip. She pulled back at first but eventually let him have it.

Jaune split off after that hoping the creature would keep chasing Blake as he worked. Drawing an etch while running was difficult. Drawing one while also having to watch out for falling projectiles would have been next to impossible.

For the first time in a long time, he actually screwed up the first attempted and had to wipe it off, but he got it the second time. "Catch," Jaune yelled, tossing the sharp and deadly weapon to Blake. Hopefully he had given her enough time to react.

His worry was for not, though, as she caught the weapon without missing a beat, but she seemed kind of confused as she examined it like she didn't know what to make of the strange object she had been given. "Um…you made it glow-in-the-dark?" She questioned.

"It's a light! Throw it," Jaune yelled as he pointed towards the sky.

Realization dawned one the faunus face. She understood what she needed to do. She attached her weapon to the ribbon on her arm, and just as a ball of goo landed beside her, she tossed it as high as it could go. If Jaune's other etch was only the soft glow of a nightlight this new one was like a spotlight bathing the entire arena, and with it revealing patches of shadows.

A dark, solid outline of their target swam along the gravel floor as if it had been made for it. There was no more hiding and Blake didn't waste a second. Her weapon arced towards the creature acting more like a hammer than a blade. A creature lost its invisibility the moment its flesh was pierced and it was dragged back down to earth.

The monster beat its wings feverishly as it tried to dislodge the weapon from its skin. Blake wasn't having any of that, though. With a tug on her ribbon half a dozen rounds were sent right into the creatures back at point-blank range. That was enough to send it hurling to the ground. It was over after that. Blake's speed was enough to catch up to it and avoid the last of its desperate spit attacks. She gutted the thing in what felt like more than a hundred cuts.

Exhausted didn't even begin to describe how Jaune felt. He never done so much running in his life. His body was sore, his hands and arms stung like crazy and his legs felt like they would fall off. Still, he hobbled his way to Emerald's gravel hut. He only now realized his mistake, but there wasn't anything he could do about it now. He hoped Emerald wouldn't be too mad.

Removing the etch caused the dome to collapse in on itself which just so happened to be right on top of his partner. A painful groan was heard as the falling gravel agitated Emerald's condition.

Jaune got her to her feet and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. He really needed to get her somewhere more comfortable. As he was thinking, Blake walk up to them, with an etch free weapon, and looking far better than either of them did. "It's done," she said, "but I'm guessing we can't just leave evidence of this little unknown world around for the workers to find in the morning."

Jaune let his head hang. "No, I guess we can't."

"How are we going to get rid of it?"

Jaune looked around at the mess they caused. Other than two dead monsters there wasn't really anything else except the disturbed gravel. "We'll burn it," he said.

"How are you planning to do that."

"My etches can make fire."

Blake raised an eyebrow. "If you could make fire, why didn't you use that when using regular light didn't work out instead of turning my weapon into a glow stick?"

There was a reason for that. Fire didn't give off an even spread of light, but more importantly it was much less controllable. Putting a big ball of fire in the sky would have just added flames to the list of things falling that could cause them harm.

Unfortunately, Jaune was too tired to remember that line of reasoning, and could only curse himself. "Damn it."

Break

The group of three found themselves in a hospital room. Jaune had gotten Emerald medical attention as fast as he possible he could. Blake and he were sat on two chairs while Emerald was tucked into the bed. Obviously, there wasn't any ointment for otherworldly, strange insect creature goo. Pain killers was all the hospital could do when they couldn't identify the acid that Jaune said had been thrown at them by some crazy guy. They worked well enough. Jaune's pain had subsided into irritating itchiness, and Emerald, despite being bedridden, looked much better. Her eyes were focused and her teeth weren't trying to bite through her lip.

"Aren't you going to apologize?" Emerald said, her words were ragged.

Blake looked up when Jaune didn't answer as if she thought the question had been addressed to him. "Apologize for what? We won."

Emerald huffed. "If this is what you think victory feels like than I'd hate to experience what a defeat is like."

"You're just mad because you were taken out."

"You think this is about pride. This was supposed to be a simple job, yet here we are, in a hospital, half dead, and it's all your fault."

"I feel fine."

Jaune had to jumped between them to keep Emerald from leaping out of bed in a ferocious frenzy. "Listen, it's been a long night. We're tired and saying things we don't really mean, so let's calm down."

They did although that probably had to do more with being reminded of their exhaustion than Jaune's words themselves. He hated getting involved in fights like this. Whenever his sisters argued he would usually hide away in his room until it was over. One look at Emerald's condition, however, and he knew he had to man up and say something. "Emerald's right, though, we told you to leave it to us and you ignored us."

"Why shouldn't I have?" Blake retorted getting heated up again as Jaune knew she would. "It's clear that you two are out of your element. If I hadn't been there you two probably would have died. Sure, you might have some strange powers, but what about her? She didn't do anything special. Anything she can do I can do better. I was even the one to kill both the monsters, so why does she get to come along?"

"Because she's my partner and my friend!" Jaune snapped and it grew very quiet. He didn't usually get angry. Growing up with seven sisters had tempered his patience's, but this wasn't something he would let slide. "Yes, without you we wouldn't have been able to kill that second creature, and I'm thankful for it, but it's also true that without you there would never have been a second creature."

Blake looked like see was about to argue, but he stooped her. "Before you say that there's no way I could possibly know that, I do. You killing the spider-slug, at that moment, in that way, caused the second one to appear. I can give you all the details if you want, but it's the truth."

Blake's unspoken words died as she switched to a calmer more thoughtful tone. "Fine, I'll believe you, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The second one needed to die. If I hadn't been there, it wouldn't have shown up and would be doing who knows what right now."

"It's not about if what happened was good or bad. It's that what happened wasn't what we intended to happen, and we paid for it."

"What's a little pain to all the lives we saved by killing those things. If I made a mistake then fine. I doubt you two have been prefect up till now."

Flashes of Bury played back in his mind. Most would say that hadn't been a mistake. The villagers had already been dead before he got there, but their memories weren't so easily forgotten. "Are you planning on joining us then?"

Blake was stunned by the strange question, and Emerald looked like she was about to explode. "No, this was a one-time thing."

"Then it was a one-time mistake. You came here not knowing anything and just assumed it would go your way because you're a huntress. If you decided to use this experience to become a caretaker I wouldn't be saying this because you're right everyone makes mistakes, but as it stands now, you're never going to have a chance to rectify it. From our point of view, you came in, messed up our job, and balled the moment it was over. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should."

"I had to do this."

"If you really _had_ to, you should have done it as huntress not a caretaker. You're from Beacon, aren't you. Don't you have a team—a partner—that could've helped you."

"This isn't there problem. They wouldn't understand!"

Jaune didn't respond. Blake's words had just proven his point, and she knew it. "I'm going back to Beacon," she said, "kept doing whatever you think it right."

She turned to leave, but Emerald just couldn't let her have the last word. "I don't believe you. This isn't going to be a one-time thing and probably already isn't. I can tell. You're never going to stop. You've probably gotten lucky so far with everyone else having to pay for your mistakes like we are now, but you can't be lucky forever. If you don't quit, one day, someone is going to come and collected your debt and you can bet they're going to demand interest."

Blake slammed the door on her way out.

* * *

Blake stumbled back into team BRYL's dorm room, the two sleepless nights getting to her. The plan was to sleep the entire day away, but the second she opened the door she was dragged in by a furious blonde.

Yang's eyes were solid red as she gripped her partner by her shoulders. Russel and Sky were off to the side, in their pajamas, gazing longingly at their beds. Blake suspected Yang had forced them to stay awake, waiting for her return. "You disappeared again."

"Sorry, it won't happen again, I promise."

"Sorry isn't good enough! You can't keep doing this. We're supposed to be a team." Tears were forming in the corner of Yang's eyes. "I'm trying to be a good partner. I'm doing everything I possibly can to get you to open up, but it's not working. I refuse to believe that it's just because you don't like us, so there must be a problem. What do you keep going out to do? Please just talk to us, we can help."

Yang was desperate, anyone could see that. Blake didn't want that. She really did want to get closer to her partner and her team. It was just things had interfered. She thought back to Emerald's parting words. Blake would prove her wrong. She had come to Beacon to start anew and she was committed to that goal.

Blake moved her hand to Yang's shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "You're right. I've been neglecting this team. Something came up that I had to deal with. I didn't think it would be right to drag you into my personal problems, but it's over now. No more late night outings. Things change now."

Yang let go and wiped the tears from her eyes. "That's all I ask." Blake immediately found herself brought into a bone crushing hug. "Strange how things work out. I thought I was going to have to help Ruby connect with her partner, but here I am struggling with my own while she's been doing fine."

"She's a strong girl. A little awkward, but her partner doesn't seem to mind," Blake said patting Yang on the back in a silent plea for release. Yang, receiving the sign, pulled back with a bright smile that Blake hadn't seen for a while.

It was a good feeling, but there were still two other members of the team that Blake look to. Sky just looked happy and relieved that things were calming down, but Russel wasn't going to forgive that easily. "If your serious," he said, "don't kept hiding things from us. Tell us a secret about yourself. Prove you trust us."

"A secret?"

"It can be anything. Just something you'd only tell close friends."

Blake's mind immediately jumped to the extra appendages on her head. Should she tell them. It would certainly be better if she didn't have to hide her ears all the time, but how would they react. They would know she had been lying about her identity this entire time. That would break any trust they had left. Best to hold off on that secret until she got closer to her team. One day she would tell them, though, she promised.

* * *

Jaune walked into Emerald's hospital room with some food and drinks. "How you are feeling?"

"Better," Emerald huffed, "but I'm sick of just sitting here. It's so boring."

"Don't be like that. You were in rough shape. You deserve some rest. I even brought your favorite food, mac and cheese."

"That's not my favorite food."

"Well, it's the thought that counts." Jaune handed her the food and took a seat by her bed. "I got a newspaper from downstairs. The fire I set in the industrial district did its job. All they found were some pieces of burnt fur so the fire is being blamed on some animal getting in and chewing on some wires."

Emerald hummed and poked at her at food. She didn't really care. There were other things on her mind, and had been since last night. "Jaune, can I ask you a question?"

Jaune looked up. "What it this? Emerald being nervous. Did that goo affect your brain?"

"I'm being serious!"

"Fine, ask away. I've got something to tell you too."

"What is it?"

"You go first, I've got a feeling mine is going to be a little more impactful."

Emerald didn't know what that meant, but she could wait. This was something she should have said last night. "Did you really mean what you said, that I'm your friend?"

Jaune started at her for a second before breaking out in a goofy smile. "Is this what this is about? You afraid I was going to replace you?"

"It wouldn't be the first time someone left me," Emerald mumbled.

Jaune chuckled apparently still having heard her. The he stood up and walked right to her bedside, his light blue eyes looking into hers. "Remember when we had our "date" and agreed that we couldn't trust each other until we worked together for a bit and decided to only start a partnership. Well, that time has passed. I trust you completely now and I think you do too, so that makes us friends." Damn the heat rising to her cheeks. "So, no, I'm not going to leave you or replace you. In case you've forgotten, I wanted to do this job alone but you wouldn't have it and pushed yourself on me, so don't think you can leave that easily. We're in this together." Jaune reached his hand up to pat her head, but thought better of it and went back to his seat.

"So, what was it you were going to say?" Emerald asked hiding her expression under a sip of water.

Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "We're broke."

"What!" Emerald yelled nearly crushing her drink. "How?"

"Medical care is expensive."

"You should have demanded that the damn cat pay for us. It's her fault!"

"Yeah, it not in my nature to make a girl pay for me. I blame it on my sisters."

"You spineless, hypocritical, coward!"

"Hey, relax. I've got a solution." Jaune pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and held it up for Emerald to see. It was an article ripped from some magazine. From this distance, she could only read the heading. "Schnee Mansion Haunted? Third Maid Quits High-Paying Position This Week, Citing Ghostly Activity."

"How it this tabloid crap going to help us. I'm doubtful that the Schnee family believes their mansion is haunted."

"I'm sure of that too, but apparently enough people believe it. Jacques Schnee put out a calling asking for people to come to the mansion and remove whatever supernatural elements are there, and there's a reward to whoever proves successful."

"So, let me get this straight. Jacques, the head of SDC, is willing to react to claims that his mansion is haunted, but the endless amount of criticism he gets for his labor practices gets thrown in the dumpster."

"Don't ask me why he made this decision. Maybe this betters the SDC in some way, or he's just bored and is hoping to attract some nutballs to entrain him. What's matters is that if the mansion really is haunted we can do something about it and if it's not we claim we did and get the money anyways."

Emerald groaned. "How much money do we have left?"

"Enough to get two tickets to Atlas if we fly coach and we find a flight with a discount."

"And there's no other option."

"I could try finding a job as a cook again, and you could be a waitress or something."

"Atlas it is."

* * *

An old fairy tale of which no known copies still exist (part 2 of 2)

 _A human boy fell in love with a faunus girl, and her with him. They would do anything for each other, but there was one thing the couple couldn't do no matter how desperately they wanted to. They could not kiss because the girl had no lips. Instead her faunus trait was a black, stumpy bird beak. Even among other faunus she was a freak always being bullied and made fun of._

 _She tried to hide her pain from her lover, but he could always tell. The problem also put a strain on their relationship. A weeding kiss was essential for marriage and without it there could be no matrimony. No marriage meant no children less she want to be thrown out by the village for being a whore._

 _The couple's life was stuck in time unable to lawfully move forward and already become too public to turn back. The boy accepted this stagnation, happy to just be with the love of his life, but the girl wanted more. She wanted what everyone else had, so one day she set off to find the only person that could change her fate, Faunus._

 _The journey was long a brutal, and just before she gave up, believing the man to be nothing more than a legend, she found him, sitting in a meadow of death and decay. She begged him to lift the curse so that she could finally feel the warmth of her lover's lips._

 _He harshly denied her saying that he had forever lost the warmth of his wife's lips because of her ancestors. She pleaded with him. What had happened to him was centuries old. The people of today had nothing to do with it. Wasn't it time for forgiveness._

 _The wizard still refused to which the girl vowed to stay there as long as it took to convince him. For many days and many nights, she sat and talked to him although he never responded or moved after their initial meeting. Without anything else to do, she made it her job to revive the meadow from a despair ridden disease to a flowing field._

 _Blacks and greys were replaced with vibrant yellows and greens. Animals returned to graze, and finally, one day, the old wizard spoke. "Tell me about this boy you love so dearly." She did and after she was done the wizard called her over. "I've have been in vengeful mourning for too long. How the world must have changed. What I must have missed. It's time to end this, I will lift the curse."_

 _With a wave of his hand the wizard dispelled the curse, but the girl's beak did not go away. Nothing changed at all. In essence the cures had been dispelled many years ago. The curse had been passed down through so many generations of faunus that it had stopped being a curse and instead evolved into a trait. Animal parts were now as natural as hands and feet._

 _A new spell would have to be crafted to reverse it, but Faunus no longer had such power. He wept knowing that his anger had caused him to make an enteral mistake. The girl wept too, her one wish not able to be granted._

 _Heartbroken the girl returned to her village only to find it destroyed. While she had been away a civil war had taken place between the human and faunus population, and they had destroyed each other. She found her lover's corpse, in the park they had first meet in, having been waiting for her return._

 _She buried him in a shallow grave before hanging herself._


	15. Chapter 15

**So, this chapter is beyond late (see what I did there) and I'm really sorry about that. I could blame it on school or life, and while that is true, it's mainly because I was lazy, but for all of you that have been waiting patiently for this chapter, thank you. I can't promise chapters will come out fast, but they will come out. Rest assured this story isn't going anywhere.**

* * *

Emerald decided she hated flying. If there was a way to jump out and swim the rest of the way to Atlas she would have done it. Getting hit with that creature's spit had been a better experience than this.

Currently, she was trapped in the middle seat between Jaune, who was permanently hunched over, his mouth hovering over a barf bag, and a leech of a teenager, who was obviously trying to undress her with his eyes while he attempted to chat her up. Apparently, he was an up-and-coming musician, who left home because his parents just didn't understand him and he could really use a backup dancer and she'd be perfect for the job. Emerald didn't know if he was fearless or delusional to be able to just ask something like that.

On top of all that, there was a family behind her that had a baby, who cried nonstop, and a young boy, who wouldn't stop kicking her seat. Even on the street, she never had to live through something this awful. If security hadn't made her give up her weapons, people would probably be dead.

"I'm telling you if we team up, the two us will be famous," the punk teen continued. Emerald thought about using the-guy-sitting-next-to-me-is-actually-my-boyfriend excuse, but considering Jaune had just filled his third bag, it would probably just make the other guy think she settle for anything.

"Attention passengers," the intercom buzzed, "we will be landing shortly. Please return to your seats and buckle your seatbelts."

Emerald had never felt more relieved. Then, the little boy kicked her seat again. If Jaune was aware enough, he would have noticed Emerald's face warp, but too bad for the kid there would be no knight to save him. Using her semblance, she produced the most grotesque monster she could think of and had the young boy see it suddenly climbing over her chair, ready to eat him.

Emerald caught his face drain of all color before he released a bloodcurdling scream that shook the whole airship. The mother jumped as she suddenly had two ear-wrenching demons to deal with and everyone on the airship turned her way. She tried to calm her son down, but it didn't do much.

Emerald reclined into her chair, hands behind her head not minding the increase in noise. She would be free from it soon and the mother would have to deal with it. Emerald kind of hoped she scared the kid for life. Maybe it would keep him from ever getting on an airship ever again.

* * *

Jaune had Emerald stood in the airport with their messily luggage. Both relived to be off that flying hell but for completely different reasons.

"How are we getting to the Schnee Mansion?" Emerald asked.

"What do you mean? We're walking." Jaune said. Atlas might have been known for its unforgivable weather and endless amounts of snow and ice, but that didn't mean it was like that all year-round. There were days where the weather was nice and peaceful, no worse than an average fall day in Vale.

Today was not one of those days.

Icy winds pounded on the airport windows and the snow was coming down thick. It was all Emerald needed to see. "There is no way in hell we are walking."

"What else are we supposed to do?" Jaune said pulling out a single 5 lien card, the remainder of their funds. "We don't have any money for a ride and I don't think the public bus makes a stop at the Schnee Mansion."

"We're definitely not walking. We'd freeze to death before we made it halfway. Thankfully, I secured us some more funds, so we can call a taxi." Emerald pulled out a wallet, with a guitar wielding, mohawk wearing, skeleton etched on the front, from her pocket.

"Emerald," Jaune hissed, looking around to make sure no one was watching them, "where did you get that?"

"I stole it from the guy sitting next to me."

"I can't believe you. We are specifically here so we can get money in a non-illegal way."

"It's not a crime if nobody reports it. Besides I guarantee you that we'll be putting this money to much better use than Mr. Rock n roll."

"That way of thinking is completely unjust."

"Fine," Emerald said throwing her hands down in defeat, "If you're really that against it, I'll turn it in then we can walk through the freezing weather, watching our skin turn black as we hold ourselves trying to keep even the slightest bit of warmth. We'll get lost and have to hold up in a cave waiting for rescue that will never come, cursing all the things we never did in life before the cold, dark grip of death takes the life away from our frozen bodies."

Jaune looked at Emerald.

Emerald looked back at him.

Jaune looked at the wallet.

Emerald smiled.

Jaune snatched the wallet out of her hand in a huff. "I'm only doing this because we need to. This is not okay. We're supposed to be the heroes."

"Yeah, yeah," Emerald said, following Jaune as he called for a cab.

* * *

Jaune watched the scenery pass by as they drove. It helped slightly to calm his stomach, a trick he sadly couldn't really use on an airship. There wasn't much to find in the endless sheet of white, however. They wouldn't be driving through the city proper since both the airport and Schnee Mansion were outside of it. Maybe when they finished their job they could visit.

The drive wouldn't be a long one with their destination being pretty close to the airport. Jaune guessed that with the amount of flights the Schnee family were probably expected to take it made sense. They would certainly have private planes, but an entire private airport seemed a little much even for the richest family on Remnant. Plus, Jaune didn't think a fleet of commercial airships could be all that aesthetically pleasing when parked in your backyard.

As they got closer, the driver kept looking back like he expected they would tell him it was all a joke and that they actually wanted to go into the city. He and Emerald weren't the type of people to be invited to Schnee Mansion, and if they had been, they certainly wouldn't be showing up in a public taxi.

The mansion grew over the horizon looking like an odd mix between a fairy tale castle and a government building. The cab dropped the two of them off by the front gate. An armed guard quickly came to meet them eyeing their weapons suspiciously. "What is your business here?" the woman said forcibly.

Jaune held out the job posting. "We're here to help with your ghost problem." _Wow, saying that out loud makes it seem really stupid._

The guard let out the most soul-crushing groan Jaune had even heard as her eyes wandered the printout. A pit opened in Jaune's stomach. Was it fake? Had they gotten trick? If so they were screwed, stuck in Atlas with no money and nowhere to go.

Thankfully that wasn't the case. "Follow me," the guard said waving them in. The gate opened and they were led into the mansion. "Wait here and don't venture off if you do, you'll be removed from the premise, forcibly if we must."

With that said, the guard went back outside leaving Jaune and Emerald to take in the scene before them. The entrance hall was massive, being the size of a small house alone, but it was the people that filled the entrance hall that drew attention. There must have been more than fifty individuals meandering around.

"We weren't the only ones to take an interest," Emerald said.

"I can see that," Jaune replied.

There was a clear divided between the SDC security, wearing similar white and blue uniforms, and the interviewees with their patchwork of color. Some wore costumes that could have been stolen straight from a traveling caravel.

Jaune and Emerald pulled off to one wall, getting some room for themselves as they watch even more people trickle in. "Something's not right here," Jaune stated.

"It really is odd. You'd think that a company at war with a terrorist organization wouldn't just invite all these people into their home. That guard didn't even ask for identification, and we even have weapons."

"Think this might be a trap to lure White Fang members here and then arrest them when they try to do something."

"If there was someone stupid or ambitious enough to try, they wouldn't be very high up the command chain, and the SDC works with the Atlas military they wouldn't need to do something like this."

"Could they just be that desperate to solve this haunting?"

"I'd put money on General Ironwood funding the White Fang before I believe that Jacques Schnee loses a second of sleep from a supposed ghost. If even half the things I've heard about him are true, he'd probably buy a new mansion before begging for help."

"Yet here we are, along with half a hundred others. I get that ghost hunters probably don't advertise their services, but the SDC it rich enough to find the very best, or even hire an expert huntsman. Why did they just throw out a help wanted ad to the general public. There's definitely more going on here."

"Should we just leave? Hunting creatures and solving problems is one thing, but getting wrapped up in an SDC conspiracy isn't something we should strive for."

"We don't have any other options. If we walk out we'll be left without any money or place to go. We have to solve this, or at least make Mr. Schnee believe we did. We're done for otherwise."

"Why did you brings us here again?"

"I thought it would be easy."

"That was you first mistake."

Even as the two of them talked, there were still people arriving. It wasn't until people were having to yell over each other just to talk that the man himself appeared.

The head of the SDC stood at the top of a huge staircase looking down on them like it was the most natural thing in the world. A very stern looking woman, wearing a business suit, stood next to him, holding a tablet. "There's even more of them than yesterday," Jacques mumbled.

"It shouldn't take too long. We just need to find a few competent ones. If this bunch is anything like the last, though, I don't have high hopes."

"You do know we can hear you, bitch," someone shouted from the crowd.

"Please remove that person," she said without showing any change in emotion. The guy had probably thought they wouldn't be able to tell who had yelled under the cover of the crowd but security got him immediately and roughly escorted him out the door.

His complaints were lost to the roaring Atlas winds, and the crowd grew silent. Their host took another few seconds to inspect them before making his descent. Everything time his shoe hit a step it sounded like cracking ice. He secretary was always a measured distance behind him and both came to a stop at the second to last step, just enough to stand above the crowd.

"I trust that you have all come here after hearing about the request the SDC released. I realize that it is a strange request, but this is not a joke as I myself have personally come to greet you. If there are those of you who believe this to be a joke, I suggest you leave." No one moved. "Now be—"

"Mr. Schnee," a man said steeping forward. "Please forgive my interruption, but I know you're a busy man and don't want to waste your time, so I would like to demonstrate right now why I'm more than capable of handling your ghost. There will be no need to bother with the rest of this fools once you see my powers. Behold true magic." The man held his arm out straight with his palm facing Jacques. From his point of view, it must have looked like there was nothing there, but from Jaune's and the crowds point of view they could easily see the playing card the magician was hiding by griping the corners with the back of his fingers. With a quick flick of his wrist the card was sent around his fingers into his palm.

Jacques did not look impressed with the man's "true magic" and with a nod of his head security escorted their second person out. "Tough crowd," Emerald joked.

"While what just occurred was a sad excuse of a performance, that man did demonstration what I would like. You should think of this as a practical interview where you must prove to me why you are best qualified to handle this problem. It's like applying to any other position in my company. It is only the nature of this job that I have conduct the screening in this manner. I am indeed a busy, so don't delay and don't disappoint me."

"For those who are ready," the secretary said stepping in, "form a line in front of the stairs." A line was quickly formed and the interview/competition began.

"It just keeps getting stranger by the second," Emerald commented.

"I was joking before but maybe this really is all for Mr. Schnee's enjoyment," Jaune said.

"Does that look like a man who's enjoying himself to you?" True to her word Jacques' face was set in stone as he gave each person about ten seconds to sell themselves before he moved them away. Those who disagreed or demanded more time were quickly taken by security. Everything about it felt like an assembly line.

"We're going to need to find a way to stand out," Jaune said.

"Why, you can use _real_ magic? That's more than enough for them to take us seriously."

"I'm not so sure about that. The only magic I can really use are etches and they can only really do what dust can. They could easy see it as a trick or a semblance. Even if they do believe me, I'm not sure it's wise to be using magic so casually in front of all these people. It's stayed a secret for this long, and I don't really want to blow that because I showed off to Jacques Schnee."

"Fine, but if you're not going to use magic, we're no better than anyone else here. How do we convince Mr. Schnee to give us a chance?" Emerald said, glancing at the ever-diminishing line.

Jaune rubbed that back of his head as he thought. What did their host want from them? How could he even judge if someone was qualified to deal with this problem? What would the man at the head of the SDC expect from them?

Jaune chuckled as the answer came to him. "Hey, Emerald how detailed can you make your illusions?"

* * *

The line moved quickly and soon enough Emerald and Jaune were up. Jacques icy gaze never strayed from their faces. "Has this become such a farce that even children come out to play?" He mumbled quietly, but not so quietly that they weren't meant to hear him.

Knowing they were only seconds away from being kicked out Jaune took the lead and stepped forward. "Good day, Mr., Schnee. I know we look young, but my partner and I are actually very experienced in dealing with the supernatural. We have been all over Remnant helping with problems just like yours," Jacques did not look convinced, "and we've even prepared a resume to prove it."

Jaune handed the man a single sheet of white paper, and he took it suspiciously but not without a slight trance of curiosity. His eyes scanned the paper going over each line. "This is quiet the list of accomplishments you have, but you'll have to forgive me, I'm not familiar with any of them."

"I'm not surprised," Jaune said in a polite and calm manner, "most of our clients aren't as open about their problems as you are. If you need confirmation feel free to call any of the references." Jacques nodded and held the paper so his secretary could see it.

She pulled out her scroll, punched the number in, and turned slightly away from them as it rung. Jaune wiped sweat off his hands onto his pants and Emerald bit her lip while they waited for the old women to converse with the person on the other end. It only lasted for a couple of minutes before she hung up. "The reference claims that these two are reliable and were the only ones who could help when his child was abducted by a monster."

Jacques Schnee watched her from the corner of his eye like he expected to catch her in a lie before looking back down at the resume. "This it quite the resume, and far more than any of these other fools have offered. It's enough to let them take a shot. Congratulations, Mr. Arc and Miss. Sustrai, you're hired." He folded the piece of paper in half and handed it to his secretary, who put it under her tablet. "Would you escort them to the guest room while I finish up here?"

"This way, please," she said leading Jaune and Emerald farther into the mansion. The hallways were so large and long that it felt like they might be walking forever, but they quickly were ushered into a small room, at least compared to the other rooms Jaune had seen, with three huge windows on the far wall and a table surrounded by large chairs and sofas. "Please wait here, someone will be around shortly."

"Thank you very much," Jaune said as the women closed the door leaving them to themselves. Almost immediately Emerald stumbled with her hand against her forehead. Jaune quickly led her to take a seat. "Are you alright?" he said filling up a glass of water, with the pitcher that was already on the table, and giving it to her.

Her expression was pinched as she took it. "I'm okay, I just overused my semblance. There was a lot the keep track of."

"Sorry to make you do it."

"It worked, didn't it."

It had. An illusionary resume that impressed Jacque's Schnee. Even Emerald didn't know for sure what was on it, only the general form and ideas, Jacque's saw whatever he thought a good application for this job should be. Combined that with some fake reference numbers and an illusionary voice on the phone, and hello Schnee Mansion.

It had been very risky, of course. Creating an implied illusion was apparently much more unstable and less convincing than one Emerald would think up in her own head since it relied almost completely on the other person's state of mind. There was also the problem that if Mr., Schnee and his secretary had decided to discussions the resume right there it would have been over since they would have seen different versions. Also, if the secretary looked at it again it would be nothing more than a white piece of paper. Hopefully she would file it away and either forget about it or think it was misplaced when she went to look for it. It all could have been avoid if they thought to forge a resume beforehand, but it was too late now.

They were still close to the fire, but Jaune felt confident enough to relax. Whatever happened now was out of their hands. He took a seat next to Emerald and spread his arms along the back. "Saving a child from a monster, though, you couldn't think of anything subtler?" he said.

Emerald glared at him though the one eyes that wasn't covered by her hand. "My head was killing me. I just said whatever would be the fastest."

"Your semblance is busted, you know. I don't even know what my is, but there's no way it's going to be as powerful as yours. It might be the best on Remnant."

"You're not the one who has to deal with the aftereffects. My head feels like it's about to crack, and it's not as great as you make it seem."

"Are you kidding me? You can make people believe anything."

"If it was that good, do you think I would've stayed on the streets? First of all, my semblance only lets me mess with people's sight and hearing. Touch, taste and smell are beyond my control. A well-trained huntsman or even and overly cations person could pick up on that especially if they knew about it beforehand. They also can't create negativity so grimm can pretty much ignore them and seek me out immediately. I also can't sustain them for very long. Simple things like hiding my weapons, I can do for a while, but anything more complicated than that and a few minutes is all I have."

"I still think it's much better than most."

"And how many semblances have to actually seen?" Emerald smirked.

Jaune's face flushed bright red. The conversation would have continued from there, but Jaune was save any further embarrassment when the door to their room creaked open. A slightly overweight man with a distinctive mustache entered and gave them a slight bow. "Good evening, my name is Klein Sieben. I'm the Schnee family's head butler, but I'm also here to serve you."

"Um…thanks?" Jaune said having never had anyone wait on him before.

"You have been invited to dinner with Mr. Schnee where he'll discuss what he would like for you to do in more detail. I shall escort you."

"What about our luggage?" Emerald said.

"You can leave it here. I'll have someone bring it to your rooms. Also, weapons aren't allowed at the table, so if you could leave those here. I promise they'll be treated with the upmost care."

Emerald didn't like the idea of leaving her stuff, and even less so with her weapons, but refusing would have just made her look suspicious. Reluctantly she set them aside. Jaune did the same with his sword.

"Excellent," Klein clapped, "please follow me, and I'll lead you to the dining room."

Klein did as he said and walked the pair through overly large hallways and took so many turns that Jaune felt the need to ask for a map. After a few minutes, Jaune was convinced Klein was just as lost as he was, but not even a second after he had that thought Klein opened a door to a room with a large table and several dishes spread across it. "Sir, Mr. Arc and Miss. Sustrai have arrived."

Mr. Schnee was sitting at the head of the table with a white-haired boy sitting to his right. "Thank you, Klein, you are dismissed. As for you two, please take a seat. We have businesses to discuss."

Jaune took the seat to Jacques' left and across for the boy and Emerald took the seat beside him. It was a little awkward considering there must have been a good eighty percent of the table not being used while they were scrunched up to one side. Even if all nine other members of Jaune's family were here, they wouldn't have been able to fill it.

"This is my youngest son, Whitley," Jacques introduced.

"A pleasure to meet you." He said with a smile and a pleasant tone, but his eyes told a different story. He looked a Jaune with—not distain—but dissatisfaction. Jaune followed his eyesight and realized Whitley was staring at the center of his chest, or more specifically, the Pumpkin Pete icon on his hoodie. It only now occurred to Jaune that Jacques probably had similar thoughts about his appearance but was just better at hiding it. Jaune didn't care what they thought, though, it was comfortable and warm, and it wasn't like he had a suit to wear. He dreaded what they would think if Emerald was wearing her normal attire. Luckily, the Atlas cold had forced her to wear something more conservative.

"Nice to meet you, too," Jaune replied. Emerald nodded already eying the food in front of them. It looked more like art pieces than edible meals, but Jacques and Whitley took some without hesitation, so he and Emerald did the same. Jaune didn't know much of about high class dining etiquette, but following their host seemed to be a good plan. If he did anything wrong it could just be chalked up to him being an eccentric. It would certainly fit in with the rest of the people who had gathered in the main hall.

"Actually, aren't there supposed to be others? Where are all the only people you hired for this job?" Jaune asked.

"You two are it," Jacques answered. "All the others I meet with were, how should I say, unsuitable for the position."

"You mean they were all lunatics trying to make a quick buck off the Schnee name," Emerald said. Jaune nearly kicked her, under the table, for her lack of tact, but shockingly her comment got a light chuckle out of the SDC head.

"I couldn't agree more. These people coming with smoke and mirrors trying to convince me of their delusions. Do they take me for a fool?"

Emerald and Jaune shared a look. For someone who hired them to deal with a haunting, Jacques sure didn't act like he believed in it. "If I may ask." Jaune said taking to lead, "when you said you would like help with a haunting, what do you mean by that?

The question was directed at Jacques, but Whitley took no hesitation in answering. "What we mean is exactly what we say. It might seem cliché but Schnee Manor is experiencing events right out of a ghost story: objects being moved around without anyone knowing, people catching a mysterious floating figure from the corner of their eye, and strange noises echoing down the halls at night."

"Have either of you experienced these things firsthand?" Jaune asked.

Jacques turned slightly away from them like he was fighting the urge to spit. "I'll admit, I have heard some unusual noises and misplaced things I'm sure I put elsewhere, but I think that's due to lack of sleep. These new waves of White Fang violence have left me very overworked."

"As for me, I haven't seen anything directly, but I did get detailed accounts from all those involved in accidents."

"Accidents?"

"Whitley," Jacques interrupted, "I've told you that you don't need to follow up with the servants. Let HR handle it."

"But father if I'm to be the heir to the company, isn't it important to make connections with the employees and show that I care."

"We've discussed this. You are not the heir. As of now, your sister, Weiss, is still heiress. Things might change but this it not the place to be talking about it."

"Of course, father." Jaune wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he heard the tiniest bit of condescension to his tone. "But, back to what I was saying, calling them accidents might make them sound worse than they really are, but there's certainly something mysterious about them. For instance, a few days ago, a maid was cleaning one of the hallways when a picture, hanging on the wall, smashed into her. She wasn't injured, just a small bruise, but she swears up and down that the painting didn't simply fall on her, but was flung off the wall like it had been kicked."

"Is that the maid who quit."

"Yes," Jacques said, deciding it was his turn to speak. "She couldn't handle the job and used that accident as her reason to quit only to go and blab to the tabloids about it. I wonder how much she made for selling the story?"

"Issues with you maids doesn't matter to us," Emerald said, continuing to brute force her way through the conversation. "We're just here to solve your problem and get paid." She had to be doing it on purpose, Jaune deicide.

"Then let us get down to business," Jacques said, perhaps likening the more direct manner. "All I want is for whatever is causing these problems to be removed, or killed, or exorcised or whatever. Since I don't know how one goes about doing that, I'll leave it largely to your discretion. You'll be allowed into any part of the mansion although I ask you to try your best not to disturb anyone here. Once you do whatever you need to do, and no more incidents occur, you'll be paid for your work. Are there any problems?"

"No sir, I'm sure my partner and I can handle this for you."

"Excellent, I'll be glad when this it over with."

Dinner continued with little more in the way on conversation and when it was done Emerald and Jaune left to familiarize themselves with the mansion. "You have a plan?" She asked.

"Actually, I do. From what they described, I think we're dealing with a misfit which just happens to be the first creature I ever defeated."

"Why would one appear here."

"They're drawn to negativity, kind of like grimm, and this is the home of the richest family on Remnant with a history of brutal business practices. There's probably plenty of reason for one to be here. Luckily, the only problem is going to be finding it. Once we do that, it should be easy."

"I have my doubts."

"Don't, it pays to be optimistic, and we deserve a break."

* * *

It was a little past midnight and Jaune was wandering the mansion hallways. He had honestly expected servants to be running around at all hours, but apparently the Schnee family like their home just as quiet at night as any other family. The only difference was the scale. Jaune remembered walking around his own house at night being creepy enough. Treading down moonlight halls in an eerie silence was about a hundred times worse. No wonder people quit, he hadn't even seen anything unnatural, yet, but he was already convinced that there was no way this place wasn't haunted.

Suddenly, Jaune heard a crash and something shatter from a couple rooms down. Running towards the noise, Jaune opened the door and shined his light inside. There was a broken vase on the floor but nothing else that looked unusual. It was possible the vase just fell and broke on its own, but it wasn't very likely.

Jaune shot off a quick message to Emerald, who was monitoring the other side of the mansion, telling her to get over here. She answered back almost instantly, but it would still take her a while to get across the entire mansion. Jaune had two options. Wait for Emerald and risk the creature getting out through one of the other doors, or go in without any backup.

Making his decision, he stepped inside being careful to check the ground for nails not wanting to experience that pain ever again. He couldn't risk letting the misfit get away. If it did, it might be days before they could find it again. It was an incredible stroke of like that he had stumbled on it the first night, but why had it broken that vase? Maybe it was just an accident. Misfits weren't prefect and the room was pretty cluttered with knickknacks and antiquates. Why the Schnee family even had a room like this Jaune didn't know. Was it just to impress guests?

Jaune circled the room watching for any signs of movement. It wasn't until Jaune was starting to think that the misfit might have slipped by him that something suddenly flew at him. He brought his shield up just in time and heard the loud thud as the object bounced off.

Jaune quickly shifted into his fighting stance ready to attack whatever had thrown the object, but it turned out the object had thrown itself as it was now hovering in the air about three feet in front of him. The floating object was some kind of gemstone about the size of his fist and definitely would have hurt had it connected.

Jaune didn't know what to do. He didn't think he could cut it with his sword, and even if he could, would he have just had two sentient object trying to attack him? One was already bad enough as it launched itself into another charge. Jaune blocked again which reset them to where they were before. The fight would devolve into an endless stalemate at this rate, so when the killer rock geared up for its next attack, Jaune dropped his sword and lunged at the object, grabbing it before it could build up any momentum.

It tried to break out of his grasp, but Jaune was too strong, something the gemstone seemed it recognize as it stopped resisting. "Ha, what are you going to do now?" Jaune mocked.

It didn't respond, of course, instead a black mist started exiting the gemstone almost making Jaune drop it. The mist slowly morphed into a human-like shape missing its lower half and wearing a mask with one eye. "A grimm?" Jaune stuttered.

The ghost grimm used that brief moment of shock to escape into the hallway, unfortunately for it, the second it exited the room, a green blade connected to a chain was impaled into its mask. The grimm dissipated a moment later.

"What was that?" Jaune asked when Emerald walked into the room.

"A geist," Emerald said like she was testing out the word for the first time, "I've never seen one in real life before. They're supposed to be pretty rare."

"But want's a grimm doing inside Schnee Mansion?"

"You tell me, you're the magic man."

Jaune sighed. "I have no idea. Grimm aren't like misfits, they can't just appear, at least I hope they can't. It might have snuck in somehow."

"Grimm aren't intelligent enough to do that, and even if it did get in how did it stay hidden for so long. It should have gone after the first person it saw until they killed them. Grimm don't play around with their targets."

"That grimm seemed pretty smart to me. Maybe geists are different."

"Possibly," Emerald didn't sound very confident in that.

"Listen, it doesn't really matter how it got in. You killed it so our job it done. We'll stick around for one or two more nights, and when nothing happens, we'll tell Mr. Schnee we lifted the curse and get our money."

"That's only _if_ nothing happens."

Jaune looked at the gemstone in his hand seeing his distorted reflection. It wasn't the look of a satisfied man. "Yeah, if."

* * *

 _Transcript from hospital emergency room_

 _Doctor: Please Sir, you need to calm down._

 _Patient: Run! Run! Monsters that break the brain live just out of sight! Oh, Oum why did I step into that place? I should have listen!_

 _Doctor: Sir, what happened? Where did you go?_

 _Patient: The abyss! Human's don't belong! How can such a place be? Even Salam bristles at its cracks!_

 _Nurse: Doctor his heartrate is reaching dangerous levels._

 _Doctor: Give him two—_

 _Patient: Ahhhhhhh! Those fool, what have they done? What have I done?_ _Cryphilictal is_ _a place of madness and they took [unintelligible_ _]_ _. I can hear the Hatter screaking! Tea Time! 6 o'clock! Fairly tails are real and they killed Alice! Oum is dead and we'll be too!_

 _Patient dies soon after._

 _Cause of death: unknown_

 _Time of death: 6:00 P.M._


	16. Chapter 16

Jaune was bored. Weren't rich families supposed to have like bowling alleys and movie theaters in their house? Fun must have been banned in the Schnee household. Jaune hadn't even seen a pool table. What did these people do in their free time? You could only pace the halls for so long which he had been doing it for the past couple of hours.

Earlier he and Emerald had been playing cards, one of the few things the mansion had to offer, but that had quickly come to an end because, and Jaune really should have known better, Emerald cheated, either with her semblance or something else. Didn't matter that there was no money on the line. She just couldn't let him win a hand. He had walked out after a few rounds and hadn't seen here since. He really hopped she wasn't trying to steal something. Schnee Mansion might have had airtight security on the outside, but the inside wasn't nearly as well secured with only a handful of guards and no security cameras. Having the latter would have put a quick end to the "ghost" problem, but installing them probably would have ruined this "castle style" Mr. Schnee had going on. Also, a man of his reputation likely didn't want to have video evidence of his every move. Emerald had been good(ish) about her thievery since they had partnered up, but boredom and opportunity could easily have her slip back into her old ways.

Jaune might have gone looking for her if he didn't notice someone approaching him. "Mr. Arc, good to see you," Jacques Schnee's son, who's name Jaune may had forgotten, said.

"Good to see you too, Mr. Schnee," Jaune mimicked.

"Just call me Whitley, my father holds the title of Mr. Schnee."

Jaune was thankful for the repeat. "Then call me Jaune." There was a brief second of awkwardness when Jaune held out his hand without Whitley doing the same. He thought he did something wrong, but Whitley quickly reciprocated the gesture—very quickly, actually. Almost like he was trying to cover up his own mistake.

"Would you like to join me for lunch," Whitley said after the handshake was concluded. "If it's not going to distract you from your investigation that is."

The investigation was already over and there wasn't anything else to do while he waited, "Sure, why not?" That might have been too informal, Jaune thought immediately after.

"Excellent," Whitley smiled, either not noticing Jaune's casual acceptance or not caring. "Follow me, Klein always makes too much for me, so there's no need to stop by the kitchen." Another trip through the twisted labyrinth, led them to different dining room than the one he had been at before. A much smaller room with a much more reasonably sized table.

"Take a seat and have as much as you'd like, and if there's anything you want I can have the kitchen bring it here in no time."

"Thanks?" Jaune said finding it a little strange that the Schnee boy seemed to be accommodating him opposed to the other way around. Jaune might have been a guest, but he was just a temporary employee at the end of the day. Did Whitley want something from him? Regardless, Jaune took a seat and had a brief look around the room.

It seemed to be the front room to a guest suite, at least that's what Jaune hoped, because if this was Whitley's room then there was a disturbing lack of any personal touches. It felt identical to any other room in the Schnee mansion.

Jaune looked back at Whitley to see if he might give something away only to realize that he hadn't touch any of the food and had been watching Jaune the whole time. "umm…"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stare." Jaune was starting to notice that the youngest Schnee seemed to have a very hard time keeping still. Every time he talked he was shifting positions. It wasn't the same as talking with his hands like some of Jaune's sister did, but it was like…it was like he wasn't sure if his posture was ever good enough.

"Is there anything you want to ask me in particular?" Jaune asked.

Whitley made a show of being in thought, but the question came just a bit too early for Whitley not to have had it ready before hand. "How is your investigation going?"

"You're interested in that?"

"Is it strange to what to know what is going on in my own home?"

Jacques Schnee certainly didn't care, but Jaune supposed that made him the strange one. "It's going okay, in fact, we might have already handled it last night. Emerald and I are just waiting it out to be sure."

"You're fast, as expected of someone with such a glowing resume, but would you mind telling me exactly what the problem was. I'm very curious."

Jaune's eyes narrowed. Whitley shouldn't know—couldn't know what was on his and Emerald's resume since it was only ever an illusion. If he had gone looking for it, he would have only found a blank page. Was that what this was about? Did Whitley suspect them?

"It's your choice to believe me, I'm used to being doubted, but the truth is that there was a restless spirit trapped in this mansion." Revealing that it had really only been a grimm, that any regular huntsman could have dealt with, probably wouldn't go down well regardless if Whitley suspected them or not. Although it did beg the question, why hadn't they hired a huntsman in the first place? Surly ghost hunters were the last resort.

"We were the ones to hire you. It would be inconsiderate to doubt you now, but how did you deal with this restless spirit? I heard a vase was broken, did that have something to do with it?"

"Not directly. It was just the spirit lashing out like it had been doing before we got here. It was actually the reason I was able to locate it so quickly," Jaune said hiding the lies under the truth.

"But, why was it lashing out and why was it here? That's what I'm interested in."

 _More interested than someone who just wants to use this conversation to kill time should be._ "I can't answer those question for certain, but if I had to guess it was probably the spirit of someone who deeply hated the SDC. Perhaps, a faunus who might have died in your mines recently."

"I wouldn't be surprised if you were right." There was no other reaction from the Schnee boy. Not a trace of guilt or even anger over Jaune basically calling him out. Whitley acted like he wasn't even connected. "There are a lot of people out there who dislike the SDC, many faunus included."

"Dislike might be a bit of an understatement."

"That's true, I don't think simple dislike is enough for a person to haunt us after their death. Indoctrinated radicals are such a frightening bunch."

"You mean the White Fang."

"Absolutely terrifying." Whitley sure didn't look very terrified as he absently minded stirred his tea. He still hadn't taken a sip or bite out of anything.

"Don't they have a reason to be?" Jaune said going a little further in testing the waters. If Whitley suspected them and was fishing for information, Jaune would do the same.

"Everyone has a reason for doing anything, but neither the reason nor the outcome have to be good. For instance, my eldest sister join the Atlas military and the other one ran off to become a huntress at Beacon."

"I'm sure they don't see it that way. Isn't seeing what they did as wrong just your opinion?"

Whitley finally took a sip of his drink as he thought it over. "I suppose it could be a lack of understanding on my part. There's certainly a lack of understanding on their part in regard to me. It's just I believe that one should always consider that they may be wrong—very wrong. There are too many people in this world that believe they are unequivocally right."

"You say that, but don't you think you might be one of those people."

Whitley looked genuinely confused. "In what way?"

"I think it should be obvious."

There was a pause in the conversation as Whitley genuinely contemplated Jaune's words. "Oh," A wave of relief seemed to wash over him, "are you one of those people who dislike how the SDC operates."

"I'll keep my politics to myself since I'm on the job, but can you really say that the people opposing you don't have any ground to stand on."

"But they don't." He said it so calmly, so confidently, like it wasn't even up for consideration. He must have read the shock on Jaune's face because he started to backtrack a bit. "The terrorist group that call themselves the White Fang, I mean. I'm sure that many of our workers have legitimate complaints, but in a company as large as the SDC that's unavoidable."

"Are you saying the White Fang's complaints aren't legitimate."

"Like I mention before, it's possible there's something I don't understand, and if I'm wrong about something, I'll gladly admit it, but I'm pretty confident about this. Even in the best-case scenario for the White Fang, and they do have a legitimate reason that I've missed, it doesn't negate all their illegitimate ones. On the scale of justice, I'd be more right than them." Jaune stayed silent. This was the last thing he had been expected from the Schnee son. Jaune expected Whitley to be the type to look down on almost everyone, and in a way, he did, but not in the snide rich-boy kind of way. It was different. It was strange.

"For instance," Whitley continued, "the White Fang claim they fight for faunus equality, with an emphasis on those working under the SDC, in writing and speeches it seems like an honorable ideal, and is probably why so many faunus join them, but their actions undermined that idea every step of the way. I don't think they mean it, I think they really are just that ignorant. They can't take a step back and seen the actual effects of their crusade. See how dangerous it is to blindly believe yourself. Attacking stores that won't serve faunus doesn't help them. Vandalized stores just file insurance claims, often exaggerated one, and not only will they get money without having to do any work, but usually they gain the sympathies of the community making them more popular than ever. Also, do they really think attacking Schnee conveys and stealing the dust they carry helps the miners. Maybe if any of them learned basic economics they would understand supply and demand. Stealing dust doesn't suddenly make the SDC lose profit. People need dust, so we just increase the price, now backed by a perfect justification. The increased cost of security finds its way to the customers, too. It might be different if the White Fang distributed the dust to faunus who couldn't normally afford it, but they don't. They need dust to keep their guns loaded, after all."

Jaune realized that Whitley's upbringing probably didn't give him a lot of chances to interact with anyone outside of a professional level, even if Jaune technical was in the Schnee's service, it was enough of disconnect for Whitley to be able to speak freely. Because of that, he was trying to unload all of his thoughts at once.

"That not even mentioning the fact, that in order to keep up with demand and replace the dust that is stolen, our miners have to work longer and harder. Something the White Fang directly stated they want changed. I also shouldn't have to mention that overworked workers make more mistakes which lead to accidents which can prove fatal in the mining industry. Despite what the White Fang claim we don't send in miners with a pickaxe and the slap on the back. Mining dust is a delicate process that requires training. Even if the SDC is the immoral, monster corporation some say we are, we'd still have good reasons to not want out miners to die. It takes time and money to train up new miners who also won't be as efficient as those experience miners we'd lose in any given accident."

Reason after reason given by a man who was determined to leave not one argument uncountered. On and on he went until Jaune finally stopped him. "Why did you bring me here?"

Whitley froze and his brain clicked into place as he realized how long he had been talking. He coughed into his hands to cover his slight embarrassment and then put them both behind his back. "I thought I already told you. I just wanted to talk."

"Not about my views on the White Fang or you family, though. There's something more specific."

It was slight but Jaune caught the way Whitley's eyes moved away and the twiddling of his fingers behind his back. The kid was good at keeping clam and being confident, but there were gaps. Interrupting his lecture had definitely thrown him off guard, but Jaune needed to keep the pressure up. If Whitley really did know about the fake resume then Jaune couldn't be put on the back foot and forced to ask questions he couldn't answer.

"I'll admit, we got off onto a bit of a tangent," Whitley started. "I didn't think it best to broach the topic so directly. Father is dismissive of such nonsenses, my sisters also don't give it much thought nowadays if they ever did, and I'm skeptical as well, but I want to confirm it. If she really is right and everyone else is wrong, then I want to understand."

There might have been more Whitley wanted to say and there was certainly more that Jaune wanted to ask, but at that moment the sound of shattering glass ripped through the room. It wasn't in the room itself, but the fact they both heard it meant it wasn't something insignificant. With a new sense of loathing in the air, the two of them got up and left the room. There was nothing to be found in the immediate vicinity, but a few quick steps into an adjacent hallway led them to the source.

Broken shards of glass were everywhere, and in the center of it, in front of a large broken window, was one of the Schnee maids. She was on her knees, hand clutching her bloody arm. Off to the side another maid and butler were standing still. Jaune hasted his movements, feeling the chill of Atlas coming in through the now open window, but surprising Whitley was in step beside him. He completely ignored the broken glass as his dress shoes churched it with each step.

"Can you walk?" he said sternly but not without concern. The maid looked up at her boss with teary eyes and nodded. "Good," was Whitley's quick replied as he put one hand on the girl's shoulder, took her non-injured hand into his and slowly helped her to her feet. Since her skirt was no long splayed across the ground, Jaune could see that her lower legs and knees were pretty badly cut up as well.

As Whitley carefully maneuvered her out of the hazard zone, the sound of more footsteps echoed down the hall. "What is going on?" the old president secretary demanded while Emerald, oddly enough, trailed in behind her.

The poor girl shrunk under the secretary's gaze. "The window just exploded out of nowhere and hit me, but I saw a grimm fly away after it happen."

"A grimm, are you sure?"

"Yes, it was a geist. I'm sure of it. The same as last ti—"

"Quiet!" the secretary shouted and the young girl squeaked. "Do not discuss these things in front of others, and you two, what are you standing around for? Get this girl some medical attention." Broken out of their stupor, the servants quickly relieved Whitley of the injured maid and ran off. Then, the secretary turned her attention to Jaune and Emerald. There was no point in trying to deny the maid's slip up, so she didn't bother. "Remember everything you see and hear here is confidential if you go spreading rumors about the Schnee family to anyone we'll have your head."

The old lady stormed off leaving the three teens to themselves. "What was that about a _last time_?" Jaune asked.

Whitley was examining the busted window before he turned to answer. "It's nothing. You're here to deal with ghosts and ghouls, not grimm. This is just a strange coincidence that has nothing to do with you, right?" Any insecurities Jaune had brought out of him were gone now. Whitley was back to the calm confident man he had been before. "Now excuses me, I have to go get someone to fix this window. Talk to you later."

* * *

In cause the obvious wasn't clear, and Jaune somehow didn't know that this "simple" job was turning into a complete mess, Emerald was glad to inform him. "One geist is strange enough, two is insane, but if this is really the third time then we've got a serious problem. There's obviously something else going on."

"Don't you think I know that," Jaune replied, "but that's only the tip of our problems. We wouldn't even be allowed to try and find out what's going on if we don't deal with Whitley."

"You two were acting pretty strange back there. What happened?"

Jaune explained everything from his meeting with Whitely. Emerald was shockingly attentive.

"Sounds like a colorful character. Do you know for sure if he saw the fake resume?"

"No, it's not like I was going to ask just in case he doesn't suspect us."

"Then maybe he didn't see it. If he had, he could have jut accused you directly. It's not like we could lie our way out of it."

"No, I'm sure he saw it. He specifically brought it up, and trust me he wasn't the type of person who says things without thinking about them. He mentioned it on purpose."

"So, why haven't we been kicked out, or worse?"

"I think it peaked his curiosity. No, I actually thing we peaked his curiosity before then and it's what led him to see what got us entry into his house. Seeing a blank piece of paper must have bumped it to eleven."

"Great, so we're like his little science experiment."

Jaune grimaced. She wasn't wrong. "It's more than that. That meeting we had. He was so fixated on what we were doing and how we were doing it. It was like he was trying to confirm if I was real."

"Didn't he mention something about trying to confirm something."

"Yeah, he left it pretty vague, but it looks like someone has talked to him about this stuff before. I think he wants to believe her but can't bring himself to do it without any proof—maybe that's what we are. We're the proof he's looking for. He's trying to figure out if we're genuine." Jaune stopped as he remembered how their meeting concluded. "I don't think I did much to convince him, though, I told him we already dealt with a vengeful spirit only for a geist to continue the "haunting" a little bit later. He probably realized I was lying the second he heard that."

"Having geists appear is still strange."

"Unusual but not unnatural. It's going take a lot more than a string of coincidences to make someone believe in magic."

"Then, what do you want to do?" Emerald finally asked.

"I don't know." Jaune was tired. What he really wanted to do was go back to Vale and sleep in his apartment for a couple of days. Let the Schnee family hire a huntsman to deal with this, not two teens in way over their heads. Although, hadn't that already been tried? If there had been an original geist, a huntsman must have been called to remove it, but that didn't stop anything. A new one took its place and started trouble all over again. This geist invasion wasn't going to be stopped without some additional measures. If only Jaune had any idea of what they could be. "Let's work our way backwards. Finding the start of this mess should give us some clues."

"How are we supposed to do that? We saw that the staff have been told to keep their mouths shut." That was true but why? Even if Jacques thought the pervious geist incident was unrelated, which was pretty unlikely now that a new geist had been confirmed, withholding information could only harm their investigation, so why did he order it?

Jaune ran his hand down his face. Just another problem to add to the pile. "Even if the staff won't talk someone had to have gotten paid to deal with the first geist. There should be some documentation."

"You seriously want us to dig through a bunch of financial files?" Emerald said, irritated.

"No, _you're_ going to be digging through financial files."

"What!" Now Emerald was straight up mad.

"Calm down." Jaune said softly like he was talking to a temperamental child. "I can't do it. Mr. Schnee might have said we could go where we needed, but I doubt that applies to looking through company documents. You have a way to get around that, though."

"My semblance isn't your personal get out of jail free card, you know."

"But it's so helpful."

Emerald snarled. "And what will you be doing?"

"I'll be looking into are other problem. Whitley has heard enough about the unknown world that he felt the need to at least look into it. Whoever told him might know more about what's going on here than us, and they might be able to talk to him on our behalf."

"Do you even know who this person is?"

"Whitley said it was a _she_ and he also said this she said the same things to his sisters, so it can't be either of them. I'm going to go out on limb and say that the Schnee kids didn't get out much to socialize, so there's really only on person it could be." Jaune paused. "Do you happen to know anything about Mrs. Schnee?"

Emerald shrugged. "Willow Schnee hasn't been seen out in public in forever. There are all kinds of crazy theories about it from her having a mental breakdown to being bedridden by an incurable disease. Take you pick but all of them point to her not being a reliable source of information."

Jaune gave Emerald that goofy smile that both irritated and endeared her. "I'll never know unless I see for myself."

* * *

Emerald stood in Jacques Schnee's office. The man himself was sat behind the desk looking like he was physically troubled by her visit. She could sort of understand. She had just come to inform him about the geist attack, something he would have definitely already heard about, so from his perspective the entire meeting was a waste of time. The Schnee head wouldn't risk appearing rude by telling her to leave, in words at least, but every inch of his body and every angle of her posture was making it clear that he would really like Emerald to shove it and leave.

For someone who only sat behind a desk all day, he actually had a pretty intimidating presence. It took more courage to stand there and give her report than she thought it would. Damn Jaune for saddling her with the difficult jobs. He was probably sipping tea with the missus right now. When this was all over, she was going to give him a piece of her mind.

"Miss. Sustrai, you seem upset," Mr. Schnee said in a tone that made him sound like a human intercom. "Perhaps you should retire to your room and relax."

"I'm okay. Just a little tired from our investigation last night," Emerald said in a pretty unconvincing lie, but Jacques didn't comment on it. His worry had only been to get her to leave anyways.

"Do you have anything else to report?"

"No sir."

"Then you are dismissed, and please don't feel the need to report to me. Just tell my secretary when you have completed the job and she'll have you paid."

It took a monumental amount of effort for Emerald to repress the features of absolute shock from her face. What was Jacques thinking? He only wanted them to go through his secretary? It didn't sound like they even have to offer any proof that they accomplished anything. Emerald already knew Jacques didn't take their mystic claims that seriously, but did he not care about the state of his mansion at all?

"I said you are dismissed."

"Sorry sir," Emerald replied realizing she had just been standing there. She took her leave finally giving Jacques the peace he wanted, or at least that's what he thought. Emerald was still there, of course, just completely invisible. It was not an easy illusion to cast. On stationary objects like her holstered weapons it wasn't so bad, but when it was her entire body it started getting taxing fast. Instead of just masking herself with someone else's figure, doing this forced her to eraser her entire presence. She wasn't actually invisible after all. It was just an illusion of the room as if she wasn't in it, fitted to Jacques perspective, having to be modify slightly with every step she took, while accounting for any changes or sounds she made while also making sure Jacques could still interact with everything normally.

She could already feel the headache beginning.

Emerald started scanning the nearest bookshelf. She needed to get this done as fast as possible. The longer she kept this up the more likely she was to mess up. She was looking for any kind of information about the original geist incident with the most likely candidate being a finical document about it. It wouldn't give them much but the timeframe of when it happened and the person paid to deal with it, but it would be a start.

Unfortunately, Emerald had barely gotten a chance to look before the door creaked open. Emerald didn't have time to cast an illusion on the new occupation, and she probably wouldn't have been able to handle it anyways, so when Whitley Schnee entered his eyes locked right onto her.

Jacques sigh, frustrated for having been interrupted a second time. "Is there something you need, Whitley."

Emerald just needed to play it cool. As long as she remained calm Whitley might just assume that his father knew she was there and just wasn't bothering to mention it. "Yes Father, I had something to discussion with you involving the new geist appearance, in private if you will."

"We're already in private."

Whitley shot Emerald a cocky smile.

Damn him.

"I've had this conversation many times already today, so it better be important," Jacques continued, unaware of the games being played in front of his very eyes.

"I see, I will keep this brief then. I believe you should postponed sending for huntsmen assistance."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because we have already employed two individuals capable of dealing with this."

"You mean those two con artists. The quicker they're out of here the better."

"Now Father, you were the one to hire them so surly you must have some confidence in their skills."

Jacques, probably the last person on Remnant who should be joked with, glowered. "I chose the best apples out of a bad basket. The sooner they "finish" their exorcism the better. I'll finally be able to put this media freak show behind me."

"While that is true, I would like to mention they do seem like competent fighters. I recently conversed with Mr. Arc and he mention that they killed a geist last night."

Jacques eyes widen in shock and Emerald's eyes narrowed. Jaune had kept their actions vague, specifically so he could avoid talking about the geist. Whitley was only guessing at the truth, yet he was passing it onto his father as fact, who currently looked like he had just been hit with a frying pan. "Are you telling me there was yet another grimm roaming around our home!" Jacques said rising from his desk.

"It is very strange. Almost magical one might say."

"Do not tell me you believe in these storybook fantasies?

"Of course not, Father, I'm just saying that if Jaune and Emerald already dealt with one geist, it should be no problem for them to take on a second one. This does fall under what you are paying them for correct?"

Jacques slowly lowered himself back into his chair, clasping his hands in front of him. "Yes, I suppose it does. In fact, this might actually be good for us. We could tell the media that these false haunting claims were nothing more than a runaway grimm. We could even shift the blame to Atlas academy if we need too. Demand to know why their huntsmen all letting grimm run wild. Shift the media's attention. Yes, this could cure a lot of headaches at once."

"I'm glad to hear it, Father," Whitley turned right towards Emerald, "and I'm sure others are pleased as well."

The two had a brief stare down until Emerald finally had to say something, "why are you helping us?"

* * *

Jaune looked everywhere for the Schnee mother. He had never seen her before and it seemed impossible to find her now. Even when asking the servants, they would clamp their lips together like Jaune had spoken something taboo. It led to a very awkward situation where they would silently look at him until he decided to move on.

Jaune was beginning to think he was chasing after a ghost—and not the kind of ghost he'd been hired to chase. Actually, it wasn't impossible Willow Schnee was dead and it was her ghost causing all this. Jaune's palms started to sweat. If that was the case he didn't know what he was going to do. He really wished someone would tell him if the woman was at least alive.

Thankfully, the worst-case scenario was avoided when Jaune finally found a white-haired pale-skinned woman sitting in the garden. The Atlas weather didn't allow for garden so it was really just an enclosed room, more like a greenhouse, with many flower beds scattered about. The place did feel calming, though, a splash of green in the house of white and blue. Mrs. Schnee was sitting in the middle of it all, at a metal table, with her back to Jaune.

"Hello, Mrs. Schnee," Jaune announced not wanting to accidentally sneak up on the woman. She didn't respond despite Jaune knowing he had said it loud enough for her to hear. He said it again, louder this time, just in case but still no response.

Panic griped Jaune as the thoughts of worst-case scenario were brought back to his mind, except this might be worse. What if they thought he killed her? He quickly ran over to the Schnee matriarch, his shoes roughly hitting the cobblestone path. He was only a couple feet away when the woman finally spoke up.

"Whitley, can you please not play so loudly. I'm going to get a headache." Her voice was so soft and fragile sounding more like a grandmother than a mother.

"Umm, I'm not your son. My name's Jaune, Jaune Arc." He moved to her front to give a proper introduction and noticed all the bottles filled with alcohol sitting on the table with even more empty ones laying around. Willow had a glass to her lips at the very moment and downed it the moment she saw him. Honestly, he was a little offended by that.

Willow took the time to pour herself another drink before responding to Jaune. "Sorry James, my age is getting to me."

"It's Jaune," he corrected, feeling like her age had nothing to do with it.

"Sorry, why don't you take a seat and we can talk." There actually was no other seat, so Jaune remained standing. This woman obviously didn't expect much company.

"I'd prefer to stand if you don't mind." She didn't seem to hear him as she was busy sucking down a couple more ounces. "Do you know who I am?" Jaune asked.

Willows tired eyes slowly explored his body and face. "Are you Winter's boyfriend?"

Jaune sighed. "No, I'm not." Willow tried to take another sip but her hand was shacking so bad at this point that she was having trouble getting the glass to her lips. Jaune couldn't take it anymore a gently grabbed her arm and removed the glass from her hand. She watched it go, longingly. Just want had happened to this woman?

With the glass out of her reach, she made eye contact with Jaune for the first time. "Mrs. Schnee," he said, "I've been hired to deal with mysterious incidents that have been affecting your home. Do you know what I'm talking about?"

For a terrible moment he thought she wouldn't, but eventually she nodded her head. "Yes, I see, so you're the caretaker."

"How do you know about that title?" Jaune hadn't really thought about how much he would actually get out of Mrs. Schnee but this was certainly beyond his expectations. "Are you a caretaker?"

Willow rested her elbow on the table and placed her head in in palm causing her white hair to nestle over her eye. She must have been an unbelievably beautiful woman at one point, Jaune thought, but that was no longer. "No, I'm not. I barley even know what that word means. All I know is the stories dad told me. Stories I guessed I passed onto my children." Willow's eyes drifted towards the bottles of alcohol. "They used to love them, but kids get old and stop believing in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and fantastical caretakers. My condition," she gestured to all the empty wine bottles, "hardly helped sell the truth. Sometimes I wonder if anything my dad told me was real, or if I just imagined them."

"It's real," Jaune said feeling the need to at least confirm it for the poor woman, "I've seen it."

"But what about those who haven't. Winter and Weiss left me even before they departed physically, and my husband never put up with it." She raised her hand to her cheek like she had just been slapped. "Stop filling their heads with nonsenses, he'd tell me."

"Whitley believes, or at least he's trying to believe."

"Oum bless him, my son, so misunderstood. Why is he such a good boy when I've been such a bad mother? He still comes to see me you know, asking to hear my stories. I was afraid he was just humoring me."

"He's not. We don't really know each other, but I know that for a fact. Also, you may have gotten through to you husband, at least a little. He did send out that request for my help."

Willow tilted her head and although it was subtle Jaune could see she had little more fire in her eyes. "I'm really grateful you're here, Jaune Arc. I might be broken beyond repair but my children aren't. Even if I'm unable to do anything else, I want to make sure they don't end up like me. My daughters already flew the nest. Whitley is the only one left. He just needs a little push. A reason to believe, so thank you once again for coming, Jaune Arc."

Jaune was a little scared. It felt like he had just fallen hook, line and sinker into some kind of SDC conspiracy, the exact thing Emerald told him not to do. "Would you mind telling me what you're talking about."

For the first time since the conversation had begun, Willow smiled. "I might be a drunk, but I'm still the wife of one of the most powerful men in the world. I still have my place in this company. Jacques didn't release that request, I did."

* * *

Excerpt from Nicholas Schnee's very unofficial biography

 _In the beginning, Nicholas Schnee ventured the world in search of dust, crossing unknown territories and clawing into the depths of Remnant, but living a life like that it was inventible that he would find something more. Nicholas, always the person to dive head first into new knowledge and discovery, didn't let this few strange discoveries slide. Soon enough the SDC was doing a little more than just dust mining. It was just a little more secretive. Nicholas found and surrounded himself with like-minded individuals both veterans of the craft, who were excited to join a man who had access to many more resource then they were used to, and amateurs, who what they lacked in initial skill made up for with their drive and ambition._

 _The Schnee sect, as it became known, was the largest and most organized group of caretakers in modern time_ , _and as the SDC_ _itself became more self-sufficient Nicholas was able to devote more time to the group. Expeditions taken exclusively by the Schnee sect became more common, disguised as failed attempts to find new dust sources, but failures they were not. The Schnee sect amassed many artifacts and gathered vast amounts of knowledge, the group was even in possession of three original manuals. The group grew so powerful that there were those that believed the caretakers would finally create a permanent institution._

 _But all good things must come to an end._

 _There was no one incident that lead to the Schnee sect's disbandment, strife between members being common in all organization but especially severe between caretakers with different ideals. There were, however, key incidents that strained the group. The disastrous exploration of_ _Cryphilictal,_ the _Heluo incident that nearly ended the sect right there, and some think that maybe it did considering the Schnee sect was only a shell of its former self after all was said and done. But, the true end to the Schnee sect came with the discovery of the slumbering beast._

 _Whatever it truly was and is isn't clear, not even to the people who discovered the information, but the simple story is that somewhere unground lies a beast, perhaps it's a demon or a god's pet, it doesn't really matter. The important part is that it was definitely powerful and possibly dangerous. That "possibly dangerous" part was what split the sect. Some wanted to try and uncover the beast, what was a little more risk compared to what they were already doing, while others thought it best to leave the thing alone since its release would affect not just them, but possibly the world. Nicholas was in the latter camp, and since the SDC were the only ones who could fit the bill and provide the manpower for such a large project his word was final, but the discussion never ended. People left because of the decision and those that remained couldn't let the issue drop. Eventually Nicholas had enough. He was old, worn out and weakened from his adventures, he retried only occasionally making connects with his former life, and never doing anything other than having discussions about new discoveries or participating in small talk with his friends. The Schnee sect remained for a little while afterwards, but having lost their leader and many of the reasons to stay together the sect dissolved completely._

 _Here's the thing though, the SDC is still digging, and even if everyone has forgotten about the slumbering beast it doesn't mean it isn't still out there. One day a poor miner might unearth the wrong piece of dirt._

* * *

 **An: I hope you all like how I'm portraying Whitley. I don't expect it to be perfect to cannon, and with the group heading to Atlas in the show who knows what kind of development he'll get, but I'm portraying him how I see him and what fits well with the story.**

 **As for RWBY canon in general as many of you know the show is back on and there have been many lore reveals. This is an alternate universe story but I do like to stay close to cannon in most aspect besides the obvious ones I have made exclusively for the story. As for now nothing presented in cannon has changed the way the main story is going (my little ends stores have been a little messed up like my version of how the faunus came to be but quite honestly that could be a story set while Ozpin was sill dead, and it not like I thought that would be the canon explanation anyways) but if cannon does conflict with the story in some way I'll probably have to make an author's note discussing what I'll do. It will have to be on a case by case basis. Currently there's only really one thing I can think of that would really throw this story completely off, but it's a pretty big question in RWBY so it wouldn't surprise me if it was revealed this season. From that alone you might be able to guess what it is, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. Until next time.**


	17. Chapter 17

**An: This has been the longest time to date between chapter updates. Long story short, college finals killed my motivation to write for a week and a half, but it's here now as a Christmas present (if you celebrate that holiday). I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Willow Schnee sipped from her glass, that she had retaken sometime between Jaune's brain shutting down and rebooting. Jaune was not a man unused to being manipulated thanks to his sisters, but never before had he been so sure that he was making his own decisions and carving his own path only to find he'd been completely reeled in by someone else.

Alright maybe that wasn't entirely fair, but it was clear that what he had gotten himself into wasn't what he signed up for. Emerald had warned him the Schnee family name was synonymous with cunning and ruthless planning. He really should have listen to her. Now he was caught in a proxy war between the Schnee heads along with the still very real problem of a respawning geist terrorizing the mansion.

Jaune considered giving the person in front of him the middle figure and walking away completely, but whether she knew it or not, Willow had reeled in the prefect catch. Jaune and Emerald needed the money from this job above all else. She could have order him to start cleaning toilets and other than complaining to a judge about a breach of labor laws, there wasn't much he would be able to do.

In retrospect, maybe traveling to a nation he didn't know much about without any money and putting his faith in a company that was notorious for mistreating its workings wasn't the best idea.

In the end, Willow Schnee had him right where she wanted him. Jaune was just going to have to play ball. "What do you want for me?"

"Why do you sound so depressed?" She seemed genuinely confused as if this situation could be read any other way, but knowing she might be a little slow on the uptake, due to the amount of alcohol she had probably consumed, Jaune decided to inform her why he might be a little irritated.

"Well, to start with the job I thought this was turned out to be much more complicated at best and a complete lie at worst. My monetary compensation, which I need desperately, is at risk because you changed the rules on me, and lastly, my partner is going to kill me the second she finds out about this, so I'm sorry if I'm not in the happiest mood."

Willow just gazed into the red liquid of her glass. "I'm sorry," she said. "I understand how you must feel, but you have to understand that's not what's going on here. I might have gotten you here by being less than honest, but if all you want is the money you're actually in a pretty good position. The only reason my husband went along with my ploy is because he didn't want the company to be hit with false advertising after I got the ad circulated. If you go to him and tell him you're done he'd probably give you the money without question just to get you to leave. If that how you fell then you can go, there's nothing I can do to stop you. I only brought you here to ask for your help."

Jaune didn't leave. The woman in front of him looked so tired—so powerless. How had he ever thought otherwise? It was unlikely she'd even be able to stand up on her own in this state, and judging from everyone he had seen so far, there wasn't anyone in mansion willing to help her.

"I'll listen," Jaune said, causing Willow looked up at him with a least a little more vigor, "I'm not saying I help you but I'll hear you out. In exchange, you have to tell me everything, no more tricks."

"You have my word, I only printed that false ad because I had no other choice, but if we're being honest with ourselves since my husband did hire you because of that ad, you can't really call it a lie. Also, as I'm sure you've notice, there is indeed something mysterious going on around her."

Jaune nodded. "Is that why you sent the ad because you knew something was going on but you husband refused to believe you?"

"That's not the complete story. This "haunting" was merely the trigger that brought you here. I doubt I could catch the attention of a caretaker if there wasn't at least some solid evidence of unnaturalness. For once the tabloids help."

"Well, I'm here," Jaune shrugged. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to befriend my son, Whitley."

Jaune had not been expecting that. "Hang on, you're going to have to back up a bit. You did all this just so you son would have a friend? There must have been an easier way. Haven't you head of playdates?"

Willow giggled, it sounded rough and out of practice. "I fear that I'm only confusing you more. I'd think it would be best if I just started from the beginning. Take a seat this might take a while."

There was still no other chair so Jaune still remained standing. Willow didn't comment as she had already closed her eyes to reminisce.

"My father was my hero. He might have not been home much during my early childhood but when he was, I was the happiest girl on Remnant. I would make him tell me stories of his adventures for hours. I can't tell you how many times I fell asleep listing to them. As I got older the stories became more fantastical. Even then, I thought he was just exaggerating, making sure he didn't disappoint his daughter. Stories about crawling through caves or digging into the earth for new dust deposits get stale after a while. Nowadays I think it was the opposite. I think my father actually censored the stories so he wouldn't scare me with talk about ancient artifacts and the unnatural powers that surrounded them."

Willow smiled. She looked so peaceful. "By about age nine, I had hit that age where I thought I knew just as much as the adults and hated being lied to. I began expressing my doubt about his stores in the harsh, bluntness of a child. I think it hurt him more than I realized. I don't think those stories were just for me, but for him too. He couldn't exactly just go around and spread those stories, people would think he was insane. Having me reject him was probably a pretty big blow. He stopped telling me stories after that and was gone even more often than usual, but during my eleventh birthday he came strolling in with the biggest dumbest grin I'd had ever seen, and he pushed this little present into my chest so hard he nearly knocked me over. 'Open it right now, you're going to love it,' he said.

"I did and you'll never believe what it was." Willow was almost laughing as the memory. "It was a stick. A stupid stick that could have been broken off one of the trees in the front yard for all I knew. Oh, I was so pissed. I grabbed it and threw it at my dad as hard as I could. As you can imagine it was a stick so all it did was bounce off his chest, but it's what it left behind that made me stop dead in my tracks. A trail of red following the exact path that I threw. I don't even know how to describe what I saw. It was like still light, even though that's impossible, but just try to imagine, it was beautiful. My father had gotten me something I'm sure every girl on Remnant has dreamed of having at least once, a wand. It wasn't exactly an all-powerful magic casting device though. The only thing it did was create those paths of still light. I could change the color by thinking of one or with my emotions, but that was it. Also, it stopped working and everything I drew would disappear when the sun dipped below the horizon. Still I loved it, and it proved that my dad's stories weren't so made up. After all, I'm sure the intended purpose of that wand wasn't to be some little girl's 3D brush."

Jaune could imagine. Something like that would be great for his etches if they didn't have some sort of aversion to light. "Do you still have it?"

Mrs. Schnee lowed her shoulders and took another drink, removing half the liquid. "Sadly no. I used it all the time and I didn't exact treat my toys with the upmost care. It was just a stick at the end of the day. Accidently stepping on it was more than enough to break it, but that's neither here nor there. The important part is that after my birthday and my renewed belief my dad grew enough confidence in himself to start hosting gatherings at the house, not like the business ones involving the SDC that I was used to. These gatherings were—this is going to sound awful—but they were more cult like. The people who showed up had much more, let's say personality, than anyone would ever dare show at a company gathering. I was mostly kept away from their actives, I think it was more my mother's doing than my father's, she did not approve of these strange people, but damn if I didn't try. There wasn't a moment in any one of those meetings where I wasn't trying to serve them drinks or offer my assistance. I got conversations in with some of them and when I hit my teenage years some of the younger members even approach me, usually in a nervous wrecks, but nothing really ever came of it. I learned some of what they did but none of the how or why. If it wasn't for that birthday present, I probably would have thought my father insane."

"Sound like an interesting childhood," Jaune said, really wishing he had a chair at this point. "So, how'd you end up here, drinking yourself away in a million-lien garden trying to get a complete stranger to befriend your son?"

"It's wasn't that interesting a childhood. I'm just giving you the highlight reel. My father's work and stories were great and a beloved hobby, but it didn't take up the majority of my life. Most of it was spent going to school, hanging out with friends and getting along with the elites of Atlas society. I guess I had more freedom than the other rich princesses but I was still expected to integrate. I didn't hate it if that's what you're thinking, sure going to similar events to see the same people all the time got a little boring, but I had peeked into my father's other life to fill the void. I was happy with my life. I meet my husband at those events. It wasn't love at first sight, but he always seemed to know exactly the right things to say to me, and on dates he always knew where I wanted to go or what I wanted. He was prefect." The hand holding her glass tightened. "Should have known back then that there was no way a man that prefect could exist. The man I fell in love with was just a false personality created to be my ideal. It took me years to realize that when it was already far too late. My dad had already passed away, Jacques was head of the SDC and I had three children. The magic in my life had gone out."

"So, you deiced to bring it back through your children."

"Starting to get it now," Willow said with a smile before quickly returning to normal as she finished off the cup. "Although it wasn't really like that, I just wanted to be a good mom, but the only thing I knew how to do was repeat the stories my dad had told me. They enjoyed them, but I didn't have a wand to give them, so that grew up the same way I did and stop believing. I wish I could say I helped Winter and Weiss escape their dad's influence, but they did that all by themselves. They didn't need me or any of my borrowed magic."

"But Whitley's different, isn't he?"

"Yes, he is, and that's why I need your help. My daughters found the drive to leave in their desires to help people with their combat abilities. Whitley, I'm sorry to say, will not be following in their footsteps. He sees several "flaws" in their career paths and way of thinking."

"Yeah, I sort of gather that from the little lunch meeting I had with him," Jaune said.

Willow took that with a somber nod. "He's still searching for his purposes, one that will satisfy him, but I think I know what it is. I said he still comes to listen to my stories, but it's not in the same way he did as a child where his eyes would glow as bright as stars. Now he just listens without emotion like I'm an audio textbook. It took me a while to piece together what that meant, but I came to the conclusion that he's simply stuck." Jaune raised an eyebrow. "Stuck between believe my stories or believing I'm crazy. I don't know why he gives so much more credence to my stories than either of my daughters did, maybe he inherited it from his grandfather, but he's never going to be fully connived without some proof and I don't have a wand to give him."

"I'm the wand," Jaune said as it all finally clicked. "You want me to prove it to him."

"Yes," Willow smiled, "truth is I didn't know who I might get when I sent out that ad, but it was a risk I had to take. I'm glad it was you, someone close to his age, you seem like a nice boy, so please will you introduce my son to the unknown world properly."

Jaune's breath caught. He could almost hear Emerald yelling at him to say no. Mentoring Whitley Schnee wasn't part of the deal and there was no extra reward for doing it. Besides introductions to the world of magic properly wasn't something that should be handed out like candy. Jaune still wasn't all that familiar with it himself, but he would feel like a monster if he denied this poor woman's request. Oh well, he had already brought Emerald and possibly that cat faunus into the unknown world without too much thought. What was one more.

* * *

Whitley did not walk or run, he moved in strides. Was it just another way to hammer home how much better the Schnee family was to the rest of the commoners, making a show that even the way you walked wasn't the same, or was it just Whitley's weird habit. Emerald tried her best to recall if Mr. Schnee walked in the same way but couldn't remember. Either way, it pissed her off. Whitley wasn't better than her if this were the streets of Vale she could have robbed him blind before he could even blink, wipe that arrogant smirk right off his face.

Emerald smiled at the thought, but quickly pushed it back down slightly embarrassed. These were not the back alleys and trash heaps of Vale, and Emerald wasn't a homeless thief looking for her next meal. Things had changed, something she constantly had to remind herself. So far, Jaune had been good on his promise and Emerald's life was better for it, but the caretaker career was clearly an unpredictable one. Things could change again, Emerald had to remember that too.

"Where are you taking me?" Emerald asked, growing sick of her inner thoughts.

"To the library, you were looking for some documents about the pervious geist incident, right? Father wouldn't keep stuff like that in his office they'll be archived in the library."

Emerald had not told him any of that.

"Context clues," Whitley said answering the unasked question, "given the situation and what I caught you doing there's really only one reasonable conclusion."

"Didn't you have a conversation with Jaune not to long about the dangers of thinking you're always right?"

"Within reason. Your expression now and back then tells me I'm right. I'm very good at reading people. I can even read lips, helpful at business events. People don't like being asked to repeat themselves. Of course, if I'm wrong and you were in Father's study for some other reason, please correct me.

Emerald couldn't, and she just knew that Whitley had an imaginary tally board in his head to keep track.

They arrived at the library and Whitley opened the door for Emerald, taking huge marching steps as he did. "Ladies first."

The library wasn't as massive as Emerald thought it would be. It was still big, but only when considering it belonged to a single family. "You don't seem that impressed," Whitley said after he closed the door. "I assure you that what is library lacks in quantity it more than makes up for in quality. Some of the works in here are quite rare."

"Whatever, just take me to what I need, the financial records for the huntsman you hired to deal with the original geist."

"Before that I would like to ask you a few questions."

"Take up any questions with Jaune."

"I already had a talk with him, but he's a thinker, takes his conversations slow and doesn't drop many hints. You seem a lot more straight forward."

Emerald wasn't sure she liked Whitley's implication of her not being a thinker. She would just rather get to the point. "And if I refuse?"

"You asked why I was helping you back in Father's study. This is the reason. I want information. Information on this unknown world that I've heard about. If you're not willing to help me then feel free to search the library without my assistance." That would take forever and he knew it. Whitley didn't even look the least bit apologetic about the subterfuge.

"What makes you so sure that this unknown world even exists?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "Mother might be crazy and you and Jaune could just be serviceable magicians. It's far more probable than not that this all be an empty fantasy but so what? This might sound arrogant but if there's one person who can afford to hinge his bets on this, it's me. Weiss is on her way out of being heiresses, and I'm definitely not going to squander the position when it's handed to me. I'll already set to become one of the most powerful men on Remnant even if this all leads to nothing. Here's the thing, though, I don't think mother's crazy, I don't think you or Jaune are fakes, and I don't think I'm chasing a pointless dream."

"For someone who's not sure, you sure are acting confident."

"Do you think so? Well, like I said, losing here means nothing in the long run so I may as well go all in. I'm not going in completely on blind faith, though. I do have some evidence as circumstantial as it might be."

"What is it?" Emerald asked, curious.

Whitley started striding to one of the bookcases in the back. "I explored this house extensively as a child. It was fun mapping the entire place out, knowing every little detail of this huge mansion. I also thought I'd be able to find some hidden secret like in the movies. I didn't really believe I'd find anything so I didn't try very hard, but when I took an academic interest in my mother's stories, I thought I'd try again, and wouldn't you know," Whitley griped the edge of the bookcase and with a great tug slid it open along with the wall behind it, "it actually existed."

Emerald didn't know what to say she was so shocked. Somehow this was even more unbelievable than any of the magic she encountered. There was actually a secret room in the mansion library.

"I know," Whitley said, saving Emerald from having to speak, "it's comical how clique it is. I had the exact same reaction." He pushed it closed, retuning the room back to normal. "There's nothing actually in there. It's just a passageway that leads outside."

"Maybe it's an escape route for you family like if your mansion is ever attacked." Emerald tried to reason.

"Father would have told us if that were it, besides, the library would be a pretty inconvenient place for something like that. No, I don't think Father, my sisters or even Mother knows about this. Someone does, though, the passageway gets cleaned like any other part of the house. I can't think of anyone else but Klein. He always been strange and if there's anyone who would bother cleaning a secret hallway, it would be him."

"This is your evidence then? A moving bookcase and a secret passageway. It's weird, but it's not magic."

"I know, but it does offer some clues. My father had this house greatly extended when he took control of the SDC, but as far as I can tell this room was part of the original structure which was commissioned by my grandfather. That means he was the one that had it put in. Thing is, it would have made just as little sense to have a secret exit back then as it does now. Unless, of course, it's not a secret exit masking the people leaving the mansion but a secret entrance masking the people coming it. That would lead credence to Mother's stories about my grandfather's secret gatherings proving that she isn't making things up, at least not entirely."

"Aren't you the little detective."

"Mock me if you want," Whitley shrugged, "but I know you know more than you're letting on, and it's a detective's job to catch thieves."

Emerald's breathing suddenly picked up and her arms twitched. There was no way he could know. It was just a coincidence he chose that word, had to be. The Vale authorities didn't even know about her, no way some kid all the way in Atlas could know what she was. "Why are you even interested in this anyways?" It was a terrible segue, she knew, but it was such a terrible segue that it actually caught Whitley a little off guard.

He fumbled some words in his mouth as he tried to return to script. "I'm interested because the topic is interesting. Do I need any more reason? A world of magic and mystery is so intriguing how could anyone pass up a chance to explore it? It would be like diving into a new branch of science. That along with the backing of the SDC there's endless possibility for discoveries."

"Is that what this is about?" Emerald said, interrupting his preaching.

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"Is the head of the SDC not enough for you? You need to dive into something else completely. Become successful in something through your own merit and knowledge. Your older sisters did that, didn't they? Winter is a specialist in the Atlas military and Weiss is on her way to becoming a huntress. They carved their own path away from daddy's success but you haven't. That's why your so obsessed with this. You're jealous of your sisters!"

Emerald said it loud enough to echo around the room for a bit, and after that the only sound was from Whitley fiddling with his vest and tie. "I am not obsessed and I am not jealous. Why would I be? What purpose is there in fighting the grimm? They don't stop. Sure, huntsmen and huntress might save a farm every now and then, but is that really worth tricking _children_ with tales of granger and heroics so they can give their lives for a problem that can't be solved. All the money spent training these _very few_ elite combatants would be better used for fortification. I'm sure any outlying village would much prefer a wall with anti-grimm turrets opposed to a single huntsman, who may or may not arrive in time. So, no, I'm not jealous. I just plan for my life to have purpose instead of wasting time like them."

Emerald believed him, but that just meant her next assertion would be all the stronger. "I see, it's not jealously, you're just bitter." It was Whitley's turn to twitch. "Nailed it, didn't I? Your sisters went to fulfill their own dreams leaving you behind. You want the unknown world to exist so you can have something over on them. You want to be better than them, spite them for abandoning their little brother."

For the first time, Whitley looked genuinely upset. He moved towards Emerald, forgoing his normal posture, and raised his arm like he was going to slap her. She would be ready if he tried but it didn't have to come to that. Almost unnaturally, Whitley seemed to calm himself down and lowered his hand. "I thought your bluntness would make it easier for me to talk to you. I see that was a mistake you have no regard to things that really shouldn't be said."

"Sorry, that's just the kind of girl I am."

"Then I guess playing word games is pointless," Whitley resigned. "Yes, I despise my sisters. They only think about escaping the life they don't like, never considering trying to adapt to it. There were much more reasonable ways to distant themselves from Father instead of running away although their failing are my gains, in the end. It amazes me that Weiss still thinks she can hold onto the heiress title with what she's done. Regardless, I've held interest in these matters long before either of my sisters' transgressions. I don't care what they think or do anymore. I'm doing this because _I_ want to." The frustration in his voice slipped just a bit at the end. "So please if you know anything, I humbly ask that you tell me."

Sincerity wasn't something Emerald had been ready for. The thought of a Schnee pleading for anything was unthinkable, yet Emerald was now in that situation. She didn't even know what to say to him. On one hand, she needed the information about the pervious incident, but on the other, Jaune had made them go through some pretty big hoops to kept from revealing any real magic. Just letting it out right now would kind of defeat the purpose. She didn't even have any proof. Jaune was the only one who knew how to use magic—and now Whitley was starting to bow. This was getting really awkward.

Thankful a white knight came to her rescues. "Oh, you're both here. There's nice."

"You don't know how happy I am to see you right now," Emerald cried running towards and around Jaune so she was mostly hidden by his figure. "Whitley has something to ask you."

"Are you a child?" Jaune said trying to detach himself from his new shadow while Whitley looked on in confusion. All of Jaune's shuffling accomplished nothing as Emerald matched his every step.

Jaune just didn't understand. She wasn't a people person. Probably around 90% of the conversation she had partaken in throughout her entire lifetime was just her trying to lower someone's guard so she could steal their stuff. She wasn't used to this level of earnestness or feeling bad about something. No wonder street begging worked, this feeling was awful.

Eventually, Jaune gave up trying to unstick Emerald from him. They were going to have to have a talk about her maturity level when this was over, he decided, but for now he had a different person to deal with.

"I just had a conversation with your mom. I understand you want to explore the unknown world."

"I do," Whitley smiled. "but you'll have to forgive me if I don't take you at your word. You did lie to me about the geists being restless sprits."

"Then I'll show you the truth. I'll give you the proof you need by putting an end to this mansion's haunting. The only thing I need now is the file of the original incident to confirm my suspicions."

"You seem pretty confident about this," Whitley stated.

"Before I became a caretaker a great man told me that all you need is confidence." Whitley nodded and went to go get the file. While he was doing that, Jaune felt a tug on his arm. Emerald looked up at him clearly wanting to know how he suddenly cracked the case. Jaune could understand why she was shocked, she hadn't gotten to speak with Mrs. Schnee and he learned a lot from her.

Whitley returned with a thin folder and handed it to Jaune. He opened it and skimmed through it. He ignored most of the information. He was only looking for one thing: the date this all started. For most people the date record in the file wouldn't be anything special, but Jaune knew it well, having tried desperately to get in. It was Beacon's starting date. "Whitley, did these strange incidents start happing right after you sister left for Beacon?"

Whitley stood there for a moment taking the question in before his lips twisted into a smile that shared a little too much of resemblance to the smirk of a movie villain. "You know I think they did."

* * *

Jaune yawned as it neared three in the morning. He and Whitley had run out of topics to talk about a while ago as they stood around in Weiss' bathroom, it wasn't as creepy as it sounded. Since Weiss was now the focal point of the investigation, it was obvious that they should search her room for clues and that included her bathroom. What Jaune and Whitley had discovered in her bathroom was a very elegant mirror. Normally that wouldn't be out of place inside the Schnee mansion, but the glass was a little too perfectly crystal clear given the obvious age of the frame around it, and even seemed to shift on its own if you examined it closely enough. Whitely informed him that this mirror also just so happened to be an heirloom from his grandfather, a gift given to Weiss when she was born. Given all that, it was clear that this was worth investigating, and by investigating Jaune meant sitting around waiting for something to happen. Whitley had not been very impressed by this sacred caretaker method.

Jaune's phone beeped as a text message came in. "Looks like Emerald finally killed the geist," Jaune said after reading it.

"Time to see if you're right," Whitley said shrugging off his weariness like it was an old coat.

There was barley any time to get in position before the image reflected in the glass of the mirror rippled outward and transformed. It still reflected the bathroom, but not the bathroom as it was now. Instead a petite girl with pale skin and white hair looked back at them. She was dabbing a bloody, wet towel along the side of her face where a nasty vertical gash crossed over her eye. Tears ran down her cheek from the other. For being her little brother, Whitley had very little reaction to seeing his sister in pain. Hopefully it was because he was still doubting what he was seeing and not a lack of empathy.

Weiss removed the towel from her eye giving a better view of her wound. It would definitely be leaving a scare, but it wasn't horrible considering how something like that could have easily cost her an eye. She was honestly quite lucky.

Mirror Weiss appeared to disagree. A finger rose to trace the length of the injury. Once that was finished, her sleeve came up to wipe the tears away before both hand slammed down on the sink counter. "No more crying," she growled into the mirror. "I beat the stupid test. I proved myself. I'm ready to be a huntress." Her hand came up to caresses the wound again. She scowled in a way that distorted her beautiful face. "From now on it's my life to live, Father doesn't get to decided anymore. I only _wish_ he got what he gave."

The image suddenly cut out and a white mask with single glowing eye came though the mirror. The geist looked around trying to take in its new surrounding after it had come from who knows where. Crocea Mors cut its head in half before it could get any farther. It evaporated just like any other grimm and when the last vestige of its body disappeared, the mirror rippled outward and showed a petite girl with pale skin and white hair, dabbing a bloody, wet towel along the side of her face.

The pommel of Crocea Mors slammed into the image, shattering the mirror and sending pieces of glass raining onto the counter. "Was that enough proof for you?" Jaune asked.

Whitley, who had been silent throughout the event, picked up one of the shards of glass twisting it every which way. It only reflected what it was supposed to. "Is breaking it in such a simple fashion really enough to stop this?"

"It's done the job in the past as much as a hate to admit it."

"I see. This has been a very enlightening experience. Consider your job compete." And then he left, walked right out the door without another word. Didn't say if he was satisfied or if he believed Jaune or anything. Feedback would have been nice, but Jaune was too tired to care. Better to just accept that Whitley was strange and leave it at that.

* * *

Things moved pretty fast after that. The next morning Jaune and Emerald reported that the haunting was lifted and got paid without issue. Whitley was nowhere to be found as Jaune pack his things and prepared to leave. He wondered if Whitley was done with them now that they had served their purpose. He didn't know if a single display of magic really fulfilled Willow's request, but if Whitley didn't want to associate with him anymore there wasn't anything he could do.

He met up with Emerald outside his room, and she was practically beaming over their paycheck. "What should we get first? I'm thinking we should treat ourselves to a five-star steak dinner. Then we could take a trip somewhere. I've always wanted to go to the beach."

"You need to limit your expectations! We got paid well, but we didn't get paid that well. We're going to save this money like responsible adults."

"Ah, come on, I'll wear a bikini wouldn't you like that? Although we'd have to buy that too." Jaune and Emerald continued this little back and forth until they reach the entrance hall where someone was waiting for them.

Whitley looked different. Jaune didn't really know how to describe it other than revitalized. There was a new rhythm to his movements as he came to greet them with almost familiar gestures. "Were you planning on leaving without say goodbye?"

"Honestly yes, or did you forget what happened last night? I can't believe you just walked away."

"Sorry, sorry," Whitley chuckled—no laughed! Whitley Schnee was laughing like a real human. Someone needed to get a doctor. "There was just a lot on my mind. It was a lot to take in you know."

"Yeah, I'm sure it was. Now if you'll excuse us we need to get back to Vale."

"So, cruel and to think I put so much effort into my proposition."

That caught Jaune's attention. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Whitley returned to a more formal pose, a much more usual sight. "I want to invest in you."

"What!"

"Well it would be more like finical backing than anything else. Imagine though, you wouldn't have to worry about money ever again. Also, since you'd be a partner of the SDC, at least in part, you'd gain a bunch of other benefits. Medical insurance for one, I'm sure you'll be needing that with what you do."

"Are you serious? Can you even do that?"

"I'm very serious, and yes I can. Father expects me to make these kinds of decisions. If I'm going to run the SDC one day then I need to make deals and business transactions. I think I'll brush this one under the table, however, Father likely wouldn't approve."

"Why would you do this?"

"Like I said it's an investment. I want to gain as much insight into the unknown world as possible. It only makes sense to support people who will help me with that goal. I can't be everywhere at once and you clearly know more than I do."

"I hope you not looking for a huge return. Caretakers don't exactly pay dividends."

"That's fine, just keep doing what you're doing and I'm sure everything will be fine. I have faith in you."

Jaune glanced toward Emerald to gauge her opinion and saw that there were sparkles in her eyes and a little droll running down her mouth. She approved of the additional funding all right, and Jaune didn't really have any objections. "It looks like we have a deal."

"I'm sure this will be the start of a wonderful relationship." Whitley and Jaune shook hands. "Now the first order of business is to get you some new clothes. That," Whitley pointed to the Pumpkin Pete logo on Jaune's jacket, "is getting thrown away. You look like an idiot. Caretakers are supposed to me sophisticated, mysterious and clever. You desperately need to update your wardrobe to fit that image."

"You don't know what caretakers are supposed to be, and why am I the only one being targeted? Emerald doesn't dress very sophisticated."

"Hey!"

"She fine as you're assistant—"

"Assistant!"

"She gives off that enforcer vibe."

"Enforcer!"

Poor Emerald went ignored as Whitley clapped his hands causing two men in suits to legitimacy teleport behind Jaune. "Don't worry, these two will take care of you." Before Jaune could offer any ounce of resistance, he was dragged away by the arms.

A few hours later, a new Jaune emerged. Actual boots instead of sneakers, black pants and a white button down shirt with the top two buttons undone showing a reddish-orange undershirt, no tie since it could be grabbed in a fight although one could easily be added if needed. Two belts still crisscrossed along his waist with his sword attached to his left hip and two large pouches, positioned diagonally from each other on his right. Then to add some aesthetic flair, a pair of keychains holding two highly stylized, specially made, Pumpkin Pete charms dangled from a loop on Jaune's belt. One had the little bunny mascot wearing a mischievous shark-tooth smile and holding up a peace sign with his cartoony hand. The other gave a thumbs-down emote with an angry frown.

"You look good," Emerald said with same level of enthusiasm Jaune had when his sisters demanded his opinion on a new outfit.

"Thanks," Jaune said rubbing the back of his hair. At least the Schnee snowflake hadn't been stuck on anywhere. "Can we just get going now? These new clothes feel stiff and they're just going to smell like vomit on the way back."

"Oh, do you have problems traveling?" Whitley intervened.

"I get awful motion sickness, what's it to you?"

"Your health and wellness are of the highest concern now that I'm your sponsor." Whitley took a second to think. "Let me see what I can arrange for you."

* * *

Later that evening, after Jaune and Emerald had left for Vale, Willow Schnee sat in the garden, drinking. Although this time she had company. "Hello Mother," Whitley said, "your plan worked. I believe you wholeheartedly now. The unknown world exists."

Willow smiled. "How do you like it?"

"It's amazing. A whole trove of knowledge just out of sight. I can't wait to start uncovering it, but there's one thing I need to take care of before that."

"What could that be?"

"You." Willow raised an eyebrow. "I'm tired of watching you sit here and waste away. You're stronger than that, stronger than Father even. If you were able to put this plan into motion from the shadows even in this state, you should have no problem standing up to Father. So, enjoy that drink because it's your last. Tomorrow morning you're going to rehab, the best Atlas has to offer and completely confidential."

Willow's eyes widen and her hands shock. It was all too sudden. She couldn't say a word, but it was okay, she didn't have to. Whitley dropped to his knees and took her hands. "Winter and Weiss didn't just forget about me when they left. You've been suffering the most out of any of us. I won't forget that nor will I forget what you've done for me—for us. You're going to get better, and when you do you're going to be walking out into a new world. I'll make sure of it.

* * *

Excerpt from Bury Incident Report

 _I've never seen anything like it. An entire village just up and starved to death when there's stocks of canned food in nearly every house. There were no unusual signs of grimm activity. It's like everyone there just gave up on life. It's impossible to tell if there were any survivors without an entire population count and even then, the census is out of date._

 _There are additional things that worry me, however. Not all the deaths were from starvation or dehydration. There was a woman in the Wood Mill Inn who had clearly been murder before whatever happened there started, but the more worrying part is the huntsmen that had been sent. Two died to starvation just like most everyone else, but there was one who was killed by a knife wound. The huntsmen in question was malnourished at the time so it's possible that is how someone got the jump on him, but a few other bodies in the village showed similar wounds. They application appear to be random along with the victims, some of the wounds were also done after death. It's like the killer was experimenting with them._

 _It's possible it was one of the villagers who lost their mind during the latter stages of starvation and is among the dead, but there are three sets of tracks leading away from the village. Two of them run by a sign reading "rest in peace, Bury" and continue together, but the third leaves Bury alone. All three tracks head in the direction of Vale._

* * *

 **An:** **So, the Schnee mansion haunting comes to an end with very little fanfare, just long conversations between characters. I really enjoyed writing this arc and this chapter in particular. It might have to do with my bias towards Whitley. I won't say I like him as a character because the show really hasn't given him one yet, but I love the idea of what his character could become. I'm a big fan of the theory that he only became the way he is because Winter and Weiss left him alone, as you can probably tell from this chapter.**

 **He'll be out of the picture for a bit but rest assured he'll be back.**

 **Also, those two charms I gave Jaune were just something cool I thought up while I was staring at the Pumpkin Pete logo (as you do). One of these days I might draw them out and make them the cover picture. Don't hold your breath though.**


	18. Chapter 18

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

One foot in front of the other. Stance was everything.

The Ursa Major took a swipe to right.

Jaune sidestepped then cut in close. Crocea Mors dug into the creature's chest. It growled in pain and rage.

Another swing followed by a bite.

The deadly claws were deflected by a shield, and the momentum of the bite carried the Ursa forward where Jaune got into position to strike at the back of its neck. With no plate armor to stop it, Crocea Mors cleanly cut into the grimm's flesh. The force of Jaune's swing carried the blade down the entire length of the neck leaving the Ursa decapitate. Despite that, Jaune kept his stance steady until the grimm started to fizzle away.

Emerald slow clapped behind him as he sheathed his sword and turned around. "Impressive," she said.

Jaune adjusted the strap on his backpack and walked up to her. "You could have done it faster."

Emerald didn't deny it. "It doesn't matter how fast you do it. The important thing is you can do it and pretty easily from what I saw." It wasn't a lie. Jaune was leaps and bounds ahead of what he had been before. It wasn't close to the proficiency of a huntsman-in-training that Jaune had dreamed of becoming, but his sword play was sufficient if a little basic. Emerald found more than a little amusement at Jaune's failure of anything remotely acrobatic. The first time she demonstrated Jaune had looked at her, jaw hanging, and explained that doing those moves would break him faster than any grimm could. A simple dodge roll was the limit to his wiliness meaning he would just have to rely on his footwork which wasn't a terrible thing. Jaune might not be, and likely never would be, a legendary knight, but he was a capable warrior who could use magic to cover his weaknesses, and if all else failed she would be there to save him.

"You should be proud of what you've accomplished."

"Did I hear that correctly? Is Emerald Sustrai encouraging me?" Jaune said.

"Don't get any ideas. I just happen to be in a good mood. Just because you should be proud doesn't mean anyone else should. It's like a child going to the bathroom on their own for the first time." Her snarky reply set them off on their usual back-and-forth. It was something Emerald really enjoyed. It was the insults and degrading language she had grown up with, but with Jaune it was causal and relaxed like a game. It was something she hadn't realized she had been missing out on. Someone she could just talk to without having to really worry about the context or the response, a friend.

Good thing too because they still had a sizeable walk back to Vale and spending it in silence would not be pleasant. Before leaving Atlas, Whitley had gotten them transportation more accommodating for Jaune's motion sickness, an SDC ship with insanely advance stabilizers that stopped the boat from rocking at all. Its real purpose was to transport highly unstable dust without it blowing up along the way, making it more than suitable to counteract Jaune's motion sickness. The only catch was the ship wouldn't take them directly into Vale's port. For one it wasn't scheduled to be there, and two Vale's docks were becoming a little bit iffier for SDC vessels thanks to the increase of White Fang attacks and the possibility of Roman Torchwick stealing the cargo. The deal Whitley offered was that they could hop aboard, get off at one of the frontier towns the ship was scheduled to stop at, and then they could walk the rest of the way to Vale.

It wasn't prefect but since the alterative was having Jaune's stomach implode on the airship back, he accepted in a heartbeat. Emerald didn't really care either way and roaming through the wildness did give Jaune a chance to fight some grimm. Where they were, Forever Fall, was also quite nice. The reds of the trees and grass were pretty to look at and the cool breeze that shook the leaves was a joy. To Emerald it felt more like a peaceful stroll than a trek through the woods. Jaune could have even set up a picnic if she asked, just like he had on their trip to Bury.

Unfortunately, a sudden gunshot ringing out from farther within the forest put an end to that thought.

Emerald and Jaune stopped and looked at one another both thinking the same thing. There shouldn't be anyone out here. There weren't any towns around for civilians to come from or for huntsmen be protecting. Anyone who was this far away from civilization likely didn't want to be a part of it, and nine times out of ten that meant trouble for anyone who encountered them.

Both of them readied their hands on their respective weapons considering what they should do, but before a plan of action could even be discussed let alone reached, the shooter revealed themselves on their own.

With speed that rivaled anything Emerald had even seen, a young girl burst from the tree line kicking up leaves and rose petals behind her. Her eyes winded upon seeing the duo and quickly hit the brakes, digging her heels into the ground and using her comically oversized rifle as a kind of steering wheel.

After everything she had been through, Emerald assumed things would cease to surprise her, and yet she still didn't know what to think about the girl in front of her. So many questions about who she was or what she was doing here swirled in her mind.

Emerald's confusion was echoed on the girl's face as she looked between Jaune and her. It was Jaune who finally broke the strange moment. "Do I know you?" he asked.

Silver eyes lingered on him with more focus than before. Suddenly she gasped and her rifle transformed into a huge scythe. Emerald was quick to pull her weapons from their holsters, but before she completely readied them, the young girl shouted, "You're the guy who groped me!"

"What!" Emerald yelled, shifting her attention to a rapidly paling Jaune.

"Hey, hey, she's twisting the facts! It was an accident. I didn't assault this child."

"I'm not a child! I'm a huntress!"

"Your profession has nothing to do with your age."

The situation had already deteriorated drastically, and it was only going to get worse as a new voice entered the fray. "Ruby you really shouldn't run ahead. It can only get us in trouble… although even I didn't expect this kind of trouble."

A boy emerged from the tree line at a much more measured pace casually taking a position next to the girl. "Ruby could you please lower Crescent Rose. I don't think a fight is necessary here, and we don't want these people to think there we're barbarians who can't settle things with words." The girl blushed bright red and quickly retracted her weapon. "And would you mind holstering your weapons as well?" He said, eyes locking onto Emerald. "It would be appreciated."

Emerald really didn't want to. The Ruby girl had been shocking and strange, but ultimately, she seemed harmless enough. There was something off about this other guy though. A wrongness that couldn't really be explained. It was like his literal existence here was out of place.

A nudge from Jaune convinced her to put away her weapons for the time being.

"Excellent," the man said clasping his hand together, "I'm sure we have some questions for each other but let's introduce ourselves first. I'm Sulfur and this is my partner, Ruby." The way he smiled was strange. Emerald had never seen anything like it before. He had been doing it the whole time but it was more pronounced now. Most people smiled when they were happy or in a good mood, but it felt like Sulfur was doing it in reverse. He wasn't smiling because he was happy, he was happy because he was smiling.

 _Maybe you're just imagining it_ , her brain told her. Not even the best liars and cheats she had seen could warp their motions like that. They could fake it, sure, but the man in front wasn't. She was certain of it, yet at the same time, it couldn't be real.

Her thoughts were cut short as Jaune gave her another nudge informing her that she had been spacing out. Sulfur was looking at her obviously expecting an answer for something Emerald didn't hear. Not knowing what to do she just told him her name. Sulfur's smile widened, proportionally causing his cheer to grow, like he had scored a point.

"Nice to meet you, but I have to ask what you're doing out here? You look capable of defending yourselves but this isn't a place to just be wandering around."

"We're actually traveling back to Vale from one of the coastal villages up north," Jaune said sheepishly. "I don't do very well in bullheads so we decided to walk. I guess you could say we're taking the scenic route." It wasn't a funny joke but Sulfur laughed always.

Why was Jaune being so casual with them? Emerald knew he could be too soft around strangers, but couldn't he tell something was off about Sulfur. "We could say the same about you. Why are you so deep into Forever Fall?" Jaune gave her a dirty look not approving of her rudeness. She didn't care.

Sulfur didn't either as the words washed over him. "It quite simple actually. We're here on a school trip. We're supposed to gather some sap from the trees around here."

There was only one school in Vale that would send their students into the grimm infested wilderness. "You're Beacon students."

"Got it in one. Training to become great huntsmen and huntresses." Sulfur sure didn't look like any huntsman Emerald had ever seen. For one, he lacked any insane mecha shift weapons that the grimm slayers were known for. Emerald only saw two guns tucked into the waistband of his pants. One looked to be a standard mass produced pistol that was probably handed out to every solider in Atlas. The other was a worn and pretty crappy looking revolver. It was possible that there was something more hidden beneath his open black jacket, that reached all the way down to his ankles, but it seemed unlikely.

The jacket itself was in rough shape as well. It was clear to see where it had been torn and then stitched back together. Then, there were some places where nobody had bothered. A hole on the left sleeve that allowed Sulfur's entre elbow to stick out, four ragged slashes under the collar that looked suspiciously like claw marks. Lastly, a very long slash that started on the left side, by his hip, cutting downwards until it jumped to the other side of his jacket, hinting that the jacket had been buttoned during the time of the damage, and ending around his knee. There was also a good amount of stains that really could have been anything, but Emerald was connived had to be dried blood.

All that, along with hair that seemed to be in a state of permanent bed head, made him look like some kind of heretic priest, and that was about as far away from the colorful and heroic huntsmen image you could get. How could Jaune not notice this!

"If you're here on a field trip, where's the rest of your class, or even the rest of your team." Emerald spat. "You should be leading two others, right?"

Sulfur winched. "I don't actually lead anyone," he replied gesturing over to Ruby who was fuming into her cloak.

"It's me! Team RSTT (Rust) is under my leadership. It's my initial that's first, so why does everything keep thinking it's him? Is it because he taller?"

More because it was him who had been dominating the conversation so far. Emerald could have forgotten the other girl was even here at this rate.

"Don't let it bother you, Ruby. We all know how great you are."

"You didn't answer the question," Emerald cut in.

Ruby was less willing to ignore her tone than her partner was. She shot Emerald a glare, but before it could become heated, Sulfur stepped in from of Ruby, and Jaune grabbed Emerald's shoulder leaving behind the subtlety of his disapproval.

Emerald was about to give him a piece of her mind, and tell him who he should really be focusing on, but just like before, Sulfur's voice cut in to disarm the conflict. "Now, now, don't fight we're all friends here," he said it like it was a joke. "As for the rest of the class, we've just spilt off from them. Anybody can stab a tap into a tree and a fill bottle, but Ruby and I are shooting for extra credit. There's a special tree around here that will give us something a little more unique. Sadly, our teammates didn't care to venture farther out." He paused for a moment. "Would you two like to join us in their place?"

Of course not, Emerald was going to say, but Jaune spoke up faster. "Sure, we'd love to come along."

Emerald twisted her neck to face Jaune in complete shock. Why would he agree? Even if he didn't see what she saw, there was no reason to go along with these two. Their only goal was to get back to Vale, not tag along to watch trees be drained of their sap. Was he just doing this to get back at her for her attitude, or was his dream of becoming a Beacon student not quite dead and he was trying to emulate the experience?

Either one felt like a betrayal and Emerald tried desperately to relay that to him, but Sulfur started walking away and Jaune followed him leaving Emerald to either stay put or follow.

Surly, he wouldn't actually leave her if she stood her ground. He was just a bit upset. He'd look behind him soon enough, and if she wasn't with him, he'd come right back.

He would never abandon her.

That's what Emerald told herself, but her belief wouldn't be put to the test. She just couldn't bear the doubt, and quickly ran to catch up.

* * *

"What's so special about this tree?" Jaune asked after everyone had fallen into formation, the boys leading with the girl walking behind their respective partners.

"There's nothing special about the tree itself, or at least not originally. Maybe it was a bit taller and bit thicker than the ones surrounding it but that would be all. It's only special now because people desired it to be special." Sulfur paused to gauge Jaune reaction. Both of they had blue eyes, Emerald notice, but while Jaune's shared their color with the bright sky, Sulfur's were darker like the ocean's depths.

"It's known as the Lovers' Tree," Sulfur continued. "Story goes that if you carve your initials and the initials of the person you love then you'll be together forever. It's a legend that runs rampant with hormone driven teenagers, so there's no end to the number of fools who attempt it. Problem is, as I'm sure you've figured out, we're deep inside grimm territory. A normal civilian would be torn to pieces out here, but perhaps it's the required bravery that legitimizes the legend. So, every once in a while, a boy or girl will work up the courage to go through with the journey hoping beyond hope that they won't run into any grimm. Some recognize their mistake immediately and head back before really starting. Some are killed along the way, but apparently, a majority actually make it."

Just as he said that the group walked into a small clearing with a tree in the center. There was no question that this was the Lovers' Tree. Letters had been cut into every inch of its trunk, some with a heart surrounding them.

"Maybe it's their thoughts of love that masks their negativity, but after they come here and accomplish their mission, they realize something. Every step they took to get here they now have to take back. There's no wishful dream for that journey, just the hard reality that they won't survive if they don't. At this point, they'd be tired and lonely only wanting to be back in their nice, safe bed."

Sulfur caressed the tree letting his finger run along the cuts as if he was reading their memories. "I can practically here them pleading. 'Oh, Oum what have I done.' 'How will I get back?' 'Someone please save me.' The despair they must feel at that very moment would draw every grimm in the area right to them. Pissing their pants as they watch the horrors they summoned emerge from the forest there is nothing they can do but wait for their death. After the grimm are done with them, the blood that leaks from their broken bodies flows into the ground and is absorbed by the roots of the very tree they maimed—and the tree stores these offerings insides itself."

In one swift motion, Sulfur produced a tree tap and slammed it into the trunk. Emerald didn't know what the tree sap was supposed to look like, but the liquid that poured from that faucet was definitely not it. It was such a dark crimson that it was nearly black. It smelled like rotting meat and flowed like sewage. The girl beside Emerald looked like she was going to be sick while her partner carried on like he had struck gold. "Ruby, get the jars. This is definitely going above and beyond. We're such good students."

Ruby obliged following the order from the man she claimed to lead. While they did that, Emerald walked over to get Jaune's thoughts. He looked a little put off by the sudden shift of events but didn't have even close to the degree of skepticism Emerald thought he should have. Once again, she wanted to confront him but didn't dare with Sulfur right there.

He was doing something to Jaune, probably Ruby too. From what little Emerald had seen of her, she seemed too innocent to be participating in something like this. Sulfur was controlling or influencing them somehow. Emerald knew it.

She had to do something. Her hand twitched as she thought of an illusion she could cast on him. It wouldn't have to be anything big, just enough to break his concentration. No one would even know.

Emerald readied her semblance, prepared to end this, but she was stopped. Not by any physical force but by her own mind. There actually was someone who would know. Jaune knew about her semblance. If she was wrong and cast an illusion on Sulfur for no reason, what would he think? Would he yell at her? Would he see her as evil?

 _Would he hate me?_

Emerald bit her bottom lip. Jaune was acting different, but he wasn't acting _that_ different. Was she just jumping to conclusions? Had being around magic made her paranoid?

The wrestling thoughts just kept coming like she had no control over them. Her mind was a battlefield of pros and cons and should she or shouldn't she—and just like that, the jars were filled and the tap removed without Emerald having lifted a finger. "Well, wasn't that a fun little adventure," Sulfur said.

"No, it wasn't," Ruby said talking back to Sulfur for the first time. It reassured Emerald a bit that maybe she wasn't under his control.

"Huh, why not?"

"You said you knew where to get some special sap. I wouldn't have come if you had told me what this actually was. Treating people's deaths this way isn't funny."

"Now, now I'm not the one who killed them. They died because of their own stupidity." Ruby glared at him in the way that was aimed more at making him feel more guilty than threatened. "Okay, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept it from you. I just thought it would be an interesting surprise. If you want, we can dump the sap and get some from the other trees."

Ruby sighed, half-accepting her partner's apology. "It's fine. We came all this way to get it. We might as well show it to Miss. Goodwitch, but," Ruby gazed at the Lovers' tree, "we should destroy this tree. That way no one will die."

Sulfur chuckled. "You really are kind, Ruby, but I don't think you should. It's the myth that's causing people to come here. If they show up and there isn't a tree then they might be thrown into an even greater despair than if it was here. At worst people might just designate a new Lover's tree. The best way to stop people from coming here would be to discredit the myth or make it clear how dangerous chasing after it is. Who knows maybe bringing back this sap could help with that. Could anyone really smell that and think that the tree it came from would be able to produce enteral love?"

Ruby giggled at the humor all bad feelings now forgotten. "Alright, let's head back. They're probably wondering where we went and Yang will start getting worried if I'm gone for too long."

"Understood, the last thing I want is for your sister to think I've taken you away. I don't think I'll survive another one of her what-will-happen-if-you-touch-my-sister lectures." As Ruby looked away in embarrassment, Sulfur craned his neck to speck to the Jaune and Emerald. "What about you two, coming with us? You'll probably run into our class if you're heading back to Vale anyways. Might be good to have someone to vouch for you, or do you want to stick around and carve your own initials into that tree, see if the legend is true."

The mild interest Jaune had in the tree instantly disappeared as he responded to Sulfur's statement with a mild blush. "We're not going to do that."

"Really? Honestly when I first saw you two, I thought you were out here specifically for this tree."

"No, we're just friends."

"And that's all you ever be, I'm sure" Sulfur smirked, causing Emerald to hate him just a tiny bit more.

* * *

Glynda knew it wasn't wise to call anything a success before it was over, but so far, the trip had been calm and peaceful. There was the occasional grimm but nothing her students couldn't handle. After being shot into the Emerald Forest, a supervised trip into Forever Fall should be a cake walk. Collecting sap was also hardly a demanding task. She still wasn't quite sure why Ozpin had decided to send the entire First-Year class to gather sap for Professor Peach, but since this was practically a day off for her, she wouldn't complain.

If there was one thing that concerned her it would be the apparent absences of two of her students, Ms. Rose and Mr. Insure. Everyone else, including their two teammates, she had caught glances of throughout the trip, but those two had headed off into the forest and hadn't come back. If they were gone much longer, she would have to start looking for them, but she wasn't too worried. Ms. Rose, despite Glynda's misgivings over her early acceptance, was an exceptional fighter. It was her partner that was more worrisome. With no formal training or transcripts to speak of he really shouldn't even be attending Beacon, but as the second highest scorer in the practical exam, he earned the right to participate in initiation where he came across Ruby Rose.

Thinking back to that day filled Glynda with anxiety. Ozpin's insistence on the eye contact rule, saying that huntsmen should be able to work together no matter what, always made the event stressful, but when those two locked eyes, Glynda had been sure it would be a disaster. They were complete opposites. Ms. Rose was the definition of optimism, always ready to be the hero and crushing every grimm in her way while Mr. Insure didn't seem to care for heroics at all. Glynda had personality watched him avoid and ignore grimm, sometimes even when they were attacking other initiates. It was an attitude Glynda sought to change and no doubt Ms. Rose would despise.

He probably would have completed initiation without meeting anyone had Ms. Rose not accidently run into him. Their first interactions were as bad as Glynda feared. Mr. Insure made it clear that he wanted to get the relics and finish initiation as soon as possible, no distracts and no sidetracking, but Ms. Rose wanted to meet up with her sister. Mr. Insure immediately recognized that her reasoning was entirely emotional and called her out on it.

It had all the makings of an argument and really should have ended in one, but surprisingly, Mr. Insure backed down. It was a level of maturity that Ozpin and her always hoped for but rarely ever got. The act also caused Ms. Rose to reflect on her attitude and admit she wanted to find her sister because she believed that would be the best way to be on the same team. With the line of communication open, they were quickly able to settle on friendly terms. Ms. Rose was especially excited when Mr. Insure revealed that he didn't have a true huntsman weapon to which Ms. Rose practically demanded she help him make one. From what Glynda had heard it was nearly done.

The new pair never did find Ms. Rose's sister with Mr. Insure eventually convincing his partner that it would be better to just finish and hope for the best. Ms. Rose didn't get her wish in the end, but she was clearly happy with leading team RSTT. Some might say that Mr. Insure should have been leader, and indeed some of the staff had argued for it, but Ms. Rose had the passion, the personality and the wiliness to lead. Mr. Insure to put it bluntly just fit better in a supporting role helping to reel in his partner's more impulse tendencies. Letting Ms. Rose win in their initial meeting might have been great for opening trust between them, but it also showed that Mr. Insure was more passive, agreeing to a plan he believeed to be inferior to his own. However, it was combat that really blew his chances of becoming a leader. Ms. Rose took the lead in every grimm encounter they faced while her partner watched from the sidelines. Glynda didn't know if he simply lacked confidence in his skill or decide that letting Ms. Rose handle everything was more effective. Either wa,y it wasn't something a leader should be doing, and thus the role was given to Ms. Rose even if some of the students were convinced otherwise.

Glynda couldn't help but smile at the predicament. Poor girl, such a force on the battlefield, yet so shy and nervous around her other classmates. It was no wonder people thought her calm, talkative partner was the one running things. She really needed to stop worrying about what others thought about her. It would do her some good to expand beyond team RSTT and BRYL.

A rustling of leaves and branches alerted her to the return of her adventurous students. Ms. Rose emerged quickly followed by her partner, and then two others.

Alright, Glynda hadn't meant for Ruby to find new friends quite that fast.

She recognized the other two although it took her a second to place where she had seen them. A tall blond with a sword and a dark-skinned girl with an attitude, one that was currently directed at Mr. Insure. They were the two that had killed the deathstalker during initiation despite not being students.

They hadn't been seen by anyone other than her and Ozpin back then but this time Glynda was hardly the only one to notice the arrival of two strangers, and they were indeed strangers, judging from the way all the students observed them.

Well, all except one. The only one to react with any form of recognition was Ms. Belladonna, and only because Glynda caught the slight twitch her ears made under her bow.

Ms. Belladonna was yet another troublesome student. While sadly, it wasn't uncommon for faunus to hide their appendages, Glynda had not known what Ozpin had been thinking when he allowed a White Fang member to participate in initiation, highest score on the practical exam or not. He told her 'everyone deserved a second chance', and at the end of the day, Ozpin was headmaster.

Thankful she hadn't caused any problems, but she wasn't exactly perfectly integrated with the school or her team. She seemed to be doing a little better after her string of late night outings during the immediate aftermath of those two grisly faunus murders, the killer having yet to be apprehended, but she was still wary of people and continued to hide her faunus heritage. In Glynda's opinion, it was only going to get worse the longer she hid her identity. The disguise was hardly perfect either, some of the more observant students, Glynda shot a quick glance over to Sulfur, who seemed to be watching Ms. Belladonna with unnatural interest, might have already figured it out. However, it wasn't her place to interfere in the daily lives of her students. She just hoped that when the truth did come out it wouldn't end badly for her.

Putting that issues aside for now, Glynda went to investigate the new friends Ms. Rose and Mr. Insure had picked up. Ms. Rose, seeing her approaching, nervously shook like she had done something wrong and expected to get yelled at. Glynda was aware of her reputation among the students, but when running a school full of super powered teens, unrelenting sternness was required.

The blond was more of a wreck than Ms. Rose with not only her attention on him but the other students as well. The green haired girl seemed to grow even more disdainful as what was clearly an authority approached, and Mr. Insure—he didn't change.

"Welcome back, I see that the two of you have been busy," Glynda said easing them in.

"We're sorry for leaving," Ms. Rose blurted out despite that.

"There's nothing to apologize for. You were free to explore during this trip. What I'm more interested in is the two people behind you.

"Oh, this is Jaune and that's Emerald. They're heading back to Vale from one of the frontier towns. Me and Sulfur just happened to run into them."

"I see." Glynda didn't know if she believed that. It was a pretty big coincidence for them to have been in the Emerald forest during initiation and here now, during the school trip.

Her skepticisms must have shown because the blond, Jaune, stepped up in defense. "It's true, we're just heading back to Vale after finishing up a job. We're sorry for disrupting your trip. We didn't think anyone would be out here."

"You said 'job.' Are the two of you huntsmen?" Glynda asked eyeing their weapons. They seemed a little young, but it wasn't impossible.

"Nah, they aren't huntsmen. Just concerned citizens." Surprisingly, it was Sulfur who said it.

Glynda was obviously going to ask how he could possibly know that, but before she could, Ms. Rose's sister, Ms. Xiao Long interrupted them. "Hey, there handsome. What are you doing around these parts."

"Yang!" Ruby yelled.

"Relax sis, I'm just being friendly to your friend. How'd you meet him and why didn't you let your big sis know."

"We were actually having a conversation about that Ms. Xiao Long before you so rudely—"

"Didn't you say something about him groping you?" Sulfur chimed in.

Time froze.

Nothing moved and nothing made a sound.

It wasn't until Yang's hair burst into flames and her eyes shifted to red that time resumed. "What did you say!"

There was enough murderous intent that Emerald pulled her weapons. Glynda immediate steeped between the two. It was bad but it wasn't unsalvageable.

Then Jaune said possibly the worst thing he ever could. "Listen it was an accident and I apologized! At least I don't destroy clubs and beat my sister just because I have anger issues."

There was no salvaging that. Glynda was forced to use her semblance to physical restrain Yang and even then, she had to send Jaune and Emerald off, lest Yang break free.

So, almost before it began the meeting was over. It was a great loss of potential information, but unlimitedly the safety of her students and those around them came first, yet Glynda just couldn't shake the feeling that storm of misfortunate had been too perfect. It almost felt intentional.

No, she was looking too deep into it. This was just another case of her student's being too rash and emotional. She would inform Ozpin of what happen when she returned and he could decide if those two were worth looking into.

In the meantime, she had to decided how many weeks of detention Ms. Xiao Long would be spending with her.

* * *

Jaune's and Emerald's living condition had gotten an upgrade. Whitley, after being informed about their current residence, didn't just give them the funds to find something better, he gave them something better—way better. Skipping a few levels in the housing market, they had gone from a bug and rat infested shack to a luxury penthouse. According to Whitley, it was owned by the SDC for the exclusive use of the Schnee family should they ever be in Vale. Meaning that for most of the year it sat empty.

"Someone may as well be using it, and having house sitters isn't a terrible idea," he had said. No idea how Whitley had convinced his father, but they had been given keys and let in without any issues.

There was only one problem with this new arrangement.

Emerald couldn't sleep.

She tossed and turned and wrestled with the blankets in her new private bedroom, but no matter what she couldn't get comfortable. The problem was everything was _too_ comfortable, she wasn't used to it.

The bed was too soft, the pillows too cushy, the blanket too warm, yet the room too cold if she went without. How many times had she looked up with envy at the rich snobs living the high life in their fancy houses? How many times had she imagined being in their place? Well, here she was, living the good-life only to find it unbearable.

It had been the same at Schnee mansion, but every night there had been spent chasing grimm, so Emerald had been too tired to notice.

Kicking off her blanket, again, she got out of bed. Using the glow from her lava lamp that she retrieved from the old apartment, she created a makeshift mattress on the floor using sheets and pillows. The hope was that something more akin to her previous agreements would help—but no. Emerald recognized it wasn't going to work after only a few minutes. Even the damn floor was too comfortable, the lush carpet fibers tickling her skin.

Picking herself up, and draping a single sheet over her shoulders, she walked out into the main living area and collapsed onto the couch. It was as nice as everything else in the penthouse, but it was time to admit that it wasn't just the extraordinary furniture that was keeping her awake.

Her mind was a whirl. She was frustrated and angry. Angry at Jaune, and judging from the lack of conversations after splitting from the Beacon crew, it went both way. It was all Sulfur's fault. Jaune hadn't liked the attitude she took up with him, but why couldn't he see she was trying to protect him? Why couldn't anyone see what that guy was? Even when that teacher had come to talk to them, right before the blonde bimbo had interrupted them, Sulfur had glanced her way like he ordered her to do it, yet no one had seen.

No one but her.

Emerald growled and kicked the arm of the couch.

She just didn't understand how Jaune could trust him so easily. It was ridiculous. They had been acting like good friends after only one meeting. It just wasn't fair, she had been with him longer. She had to work to gain his trust. They were partners.

So, why had he chosen him over here?

The soft padding of footsteps alerted her to someone's approach. "Emerald, what are you doing up?" a very tried looking Jaune said.

"I could be saying the same to you?" She replied, turning away.

"I was woken up by your racket. Just what are you doing?"

Emerald pouted into the back cushions. "Can't sleep. Everything's too new and luxurious"

Jaune slowly looked around the room. "I guess this place would be a little jarring to someone accustomed to leaving on the streets and that awful apartment. Maybe I should have expected this."

He sighed. "I'll be right back."

Emerald rolled over on the couch to watch him, curious about what he could be doing. A few moments later Jaune came back with that horrid onesie he used to wear before Emerald forced him to stop. The fact he brought it over from the other apartment was a crime.

"Here," he said handing it to her.  
"You're not expecting me to wear that, are you?" The thought made her want to puke.

"No, you've made it very clear how you feel about my sisters' gift, but you can use it as ba lanket. It should be rough and worn enough for you to be comfortable.

Emerald was still hesitant even if she wouldn't technically be wearing the thing, it would still be embarrassing. Jaune was he only one here, though, and it wasn't like she had any better ideas. Slowly she took the article of clothing and wrapped it around herself while she was still laying on the couch. It had a surprisingly nice feel to it, so much so that she found herself pulling it tighter.

"Are you okay now?"

No, she wasn't. There was still something she needed to say, and Emerald wasn't the type of girl to wait. "Why did you go along with Sulfur?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why did you let him delay us? Why did you hang out with him?"

Jaune looked confused. "Do I need a reason? We just got to talking and he seemed like a cool guy. Going along with him was just a spur of the moment thing."

"But couldn't you tell? He was clearly up to something. There's something wrong with him."

Jaune gazed at Emerald for a bit before answering. "Is that why you were so mean to him. Yeah, he was a little strange but he didn't do anything to hurt us. He actually defused the situation between us and Ruby, remember?"

"Yeah, but did you see what he was wearing, or what he did to that tree, or even question how he knew about it, or—"

"Emerald," Jaune softly interrupted, "I hate to say this but do you think you might be the one with the problem, not him.

"What?" Emerald recoiled

Jaune put his hand on her upper arm, slowly moving it back and forth. "You're strong, stronger than I could ever hope to be, but you never really got a choice in the matter, did you? You've told me a little bit, but I still can't imagine what it must have been like for you. It must be hard to trust people. Hell, the only reason you helped me out in the first place was because you knew you could use me, right?" Emerald looked away, shame pooling in her stomach. "So, do you think you might be projecting a threat onto Sulfur that isn't there

"No, I…"

"Just think about, please."

Emerald wanted to say something—anything—to prove Jaune wrong but she couldn't. She wasn't wrong, Sulfur was a threat, but maybe she wasn't exactly right either. She glanced at Jaune out of the corner of her eye as he continued to rub her arm. She had sworn never to get close to anyway after what happened Robin, but it would seem that she had broken that promise.

She could feel herself drifting off.

Was it really possible? Could she have just been jealous?

* * *

Jaune walked back into his room after he consoled Emerald. He would have gone straight to bed expect for the annoying buzzing that was coming from his scroll that was resting on the dresser. "Who could be calling at this hour?" Jaune said to himself, answering it without bothering to check the caller ID.

It probably wouldn't have matter if he had.

"Hey kid, remember that stray cat I rescued for you. Well, I'm calling in the favor you owe me."

* * *

Excerpt from the book

 _The city of_ _Cryphilictal has so many legends and myths surrounding it that if you were to believe them all Cryphilictal would be linked to everything in the unknown world and beyond. So paradoxically, while endless amount of information about the city exist it remains a complete mystery. Even those that return from the dangerous pilgrimage only offer scant accounts, and what is said often rarely ever coincide with pervious accounts and can even be contradictory._

 _So, with unreliability at every stage, let's us focus on the few things we do know. The city was certainly unrivaled as a hub of magic and knowledge during its time and nothing has ever matched it either before its establishment or since. At some point, the city fell to ruin. It's clear that the cause was internal rather than external making a civil war or a runaway spell likely culprits, but there's no concrete evidence for anything. Lastly it at one point Cryphilictal housed the Relic of Knowledge, whether the city possessed any of the others is once again up for debate._

 _As sad as it is to admit, that sprinkle of information is all that can be consider fact about the city, but that's just the nature of things. For Cryphilictal it would seem that seeing it for yourself is the only way to validity anything, and it's not an easy journey to take for the cursed Cryphilictal is as strong as ever and guards it secrets closely._

 _However, before I end, it would be unwise for me not to not included a rumor that while unable to be confirmed as fact, is held as truth by many. The story goes that when the God of Light made the Relic of Knowledge he didn't think of adding a limiter for the humans delving into the knowledge of the gods. Anyone who asked anything but a mundane question would go insane upon hearing the answer, or if they were luckily, die on the spot. As such when the relic was held by Cryphilictal, a way to make it usable by humans was devised. The relic was split into two unequal pieces, the flame taken from the lamp, making the relic weaker, now only able to answer three questions every century, but useable._

 _The other piece didn't just disappear though, the flame burns on, and while the Relic of Knowledge changed hands, the flame remains somewhere inside the city._

 _The fifth relic if you would._

 _The Relic of Madness._

* * *

 **An: I thought about cutting this chapter off after Forever Fall, but then there wouldn't be any resolution to Emerald observations and feelings, and it would have been kind of weird to start the next chapter like that, so we got a little insight into the caretaker's new place, courtesy of Whitley and the SDC.**

 **Also, a new character was introduced, an OC at that, I'm curious to see what people think about him, just remember when you review, that this story has been filled with OCs. They just haven't been humans. As for Ruby's other teammates, unfortunately, they aren't important, and I don't know if I'll ever show them. There just weren't enough minor named characters in Beacon to fill the teams how I wanted. I already used Russel and Sky, and Dove is somewhere else. As for Sulfur, well who knows, maybe he's not important either, just depends on how far you agree with Emerald.**


	19. Chapter 19

**An: This chapter is late and short, and I'm sorry for that, but I'm afraid I have more bad news. This story will be going on a slight hiatus although with how long I've been taking to update you might not even notice a difference. The reason for this is that applications for my school's animation program are due soon with an acceptance rate of a whole sixteen percent. Since I came to this school mainly for this program, I'll be dedicating all my time to working on my portfolio and application which means I won't be working on this story until everything is complete.**

 **I didn't want to make you all wait another two weeks for a chapter, so I decided to release this chapter now even though it doesn't have as much content as I would like. Not to say this chapter isn't important, but it's more set up than anything else. Hopefully you all still enjoy it, and I'll see you when I see you.**

* * *

Maybe if Jaune pretended really hard he could convince himself that it was all a dream.

"Don't bother trying to ignore me, kid. I'll just send Neo over to your new fancy penthouse if you hang up," Roman said putting an end to that thought.

"How do you know that! We literally just moved in? Did you put a tracker on my scroll?"

"Ah, a response and with loads of energy too. That's good because you're going to need to pay attention."

"Don't change the subject! I've put up with it until now but this it too far. How are you doing it? Is it magic? Are you looking through my eyes like they're video cameras?"

"Calm down, I'm not getting that intimate with you."

"Then how are you doing it?" Jaune asked again, not liking how causally Roman was dismissing his right to privacy.

"What even makes you think I'm tracking you? I'm Vale's greatest thief and greatest caretaker. My intuition and information network is second to none. Knowing my understudy's every move is child's play."

Jaune fell back onto his bed accepting that he was never going to get an answer. "What do you want from me?"

"You don't need to make it sound like I'm forcing you to do this."

"So, I can refuse?"

"No, I just don't like the way it sounds."

"Roman, it's like two in the morning, could you just get to the point?"

"I have a job for you. Ever heard of Mt. Glenn?"

"No."

"Well, it was before you were born and Vale likes to keep it hush hush nowadays. It was an expansion project. It was supposed to solve all of Vale's overpopulation problems and it was advertised as a paradise for people who choose to move there. Tax breaks, the city lifestyle with a country feel, imperturbable grimm defenses, the whole shabang. But, turns out the grimm defenses weren't so imperturbable. The city fell and a lot of people died. Now it's nothing more than a rotting relic of the past."

"So, what's with the history lesson?"

"You see I'm going to have business in Mt. Glenn fairly soon and there's a few things in Mt. Glenn that need removing before then, supernatural things. I'm not able to leave Vale at the moment thanks to other obligations, so I'm tagging you in."

"You want me to go Mt. Glenn? I just got back from a trip. I really don't want to head off again so soon."

"I know about Atlas. It's the reason I waited to call you."

"Of course, you do," Jaune groaned. "Can't you just take care of it while you're there?"

"No can do. I'll be bringing some company and they aren't privy to my other job, and I would like to keep it that way."

"What business could you have in Mt. Glenn if it's not caretaker related? Are you just there to ransack the place? That's pretty low even for you."

"The most wanted, and most handsome, thief in Vale wouldn't stoop to petty scavenging; besides, that place was picked clean by vultures long ago. Anything of value it long gone. I'm going there to do a little, let's say, excavating. Nothing for you to worry about."

"Favor or not, I'm not helping you commit crimes."

"You won't be," Roman said. "I'm just asking you to sterilize the place. It will be good for everyone. Think of it as a training exercise."

To say Jaune was wary would be a big understatement, but if it hadn't been for Roman, he would probably be at home, sulking, or working as a sales clerk. In a way, he did owe him, and it wasn't like Jaune had anything else lined up. The hardest part about solving otherworldly problems were finding them in the first place. "What do you need me to do?" he resigned.

"Glad you're finally seeing it my way."

"This also better not be counting as one of my phone calls!" Jaune clarified. It would be just the type of thing Roman would try to pull.

"Relax even I'm not cruel enough to do that when I'm the one asking. What you need to know it that Mt. Glenn it currently filled with echoes and you need to get rid of them."

"Echoes?"

"Echoes are exactly what the name implies, reverberations from the past where people died none to peacefully."

"Great, so I get to deal with another haunting. At least this time they'll be actual ghosts."

"Don't let your entertainment media infect your thinking. Ghost are jut fiction created by people who didn't know any better. Echoes aren't people who couldn't pass on they're simply bundles of negative emotions and a person's last memories that sort of materialized into their own entity."

"Seems like ghosts with a small technicality."

"If you want to call them ghosts, then fine, that's not the important part. Ever wonder why grimm are drawn to places where negativity once was, I mean really thought about it? It's not like negativity is a particle that just lingerers around. Emotions don't work that way but echoes do. They keep the negativity train running and the grimm recognize that."

"How do I get rid of them?"

"If there were just a few you could destabilize their existence with any number of special spells, but with how many are bound to be there, that would be impractical. You'll have to do it in mass by liberating them from their worldly bonds.

"Exactly what you do to ghosts." Jaune mumbled "So, how do I put them to rest."

"No idea."

Jaune waited a few seconds for Roman to hit him with the punch line.

It never came.

"What do you mean you don't know!" he yelled probably loud enough to wake Emerald.

"You can't blame me for this. At most you get half a dozen echoes when a small frontier town goes under, easily taken care of with option one, but Mt. Glenn was huge. Even if just half a percent of the population produced an echo, they'll easily number in the thousands. Massive population centers don't just collapse daily, and none of the caretakers that had that book before you wrote about any cities they had to exorcise, so as far as I know, the situation at Mt. Glenn is entirely unique."

"So, you've decided to stick the problem onto me." Was it still too late to hang up and pass it all off as a dream? "Please tell me you have at least an idea about what to do."  
"Didn't I say that I don't."

"Roman!"

"Fine, there's no need to get so angry. I've been thinking about this for a while and here's my best theory. Echoes are just negative emotions and memories, so in theory if one of those components were to be removed, the echoes would fall apart. There's no way to take away their memories, but it should be possible to give them a new one. If you can do something to give them a happy memory, their negative emotions should just wash away."

"How confident are you in this. You didn't get it from any entertainment media, possibly a ghost movie, did you?"

"I'm hurt you would think that." Jaune couldn't see it but he could tell that Roman was whipping away a fake tear. "For your information, I do have some evidence to back this up. Anyone can create an echo when they die, doesn't even have to be tragedy just sad enough to them. The point is caretakers don't go around destroying every last one of them, yet somehow Remnant isn't overflowing with the things. Echoes generally stay around whatever their memory pertains to, whether it be a place or a person. The conclusion is that echoes "naturally" eradicate themselves. My guess is that when an echo sees something happy, like the family of the person who died moving on and returning to normal, the positive memory outweighs the bad and the echo ceases to exist. In places where there's no happiness to be found, however, like Mt. Glenn, an echo will just stick around indefinitely."

"Makes sense, but running around giving every echo a happy memory doesn't seem any more efficient than using a spell."

"You won't have too. Saying there's multiple echoes might have been a little misleading. Echoes don't have any real form, so when there're close together they kind of just meld into one another like different gases. Unique and separated enough where a spell will only destroy one sentience, but interwove enough where showing one a happy memory will infect the entire group, and since all of the echoes there should have memories relating to the fall of Mt. Glenn, a happy memory about that should collapse every one of them."

"How do I show them a happy memory about the fall of Mt. Glenn?"

"That is where my brain power ended," Roman said, reluctantly.

Jaune groaned into his scroll. "Let's say I do figure out some way to do that. What if you're wrong and it doesn't work?"

"Then you have to come up with something else. It your job after all and I'm counting on you not to screw it up. So, good luck." And then Roman hung up.

He just hung up.

Jaune wanted to be angry, he really did, but honestly, he was too tired. Better to just deal with it in the morning.

* * *

Jaune woke up sometime around noon, and quickly realized that dealing with Roman's insane request would not be any easier. Clearing Mt. Glenn of echoes was going to be a monumental task. It made everything else he and Emerald had accomplished look like a joke, and he didn't have a clue about how to go about it.

Reading up about echoes from his journal hadn't help. It was all mostly what Roman had said with a few extra details. For one you couldn't actually see echoes or interact with them in any conventional way. Trying to kill them with bullets or blades would be as pointless as attacking the wind.

A problem because even if echoes didn't pose any danger by themselves, the grimm they drew very much did, and as long as they remained the grimm would just keep coming. Jaune didn't even want to think how many grimm must have made a home in Mt. Glenn where so many echoes had been for so long. He and Emerald would be swarmed the moment they arrived—and wasn't arriving itself going to be its own problem. Vale probably didn't have any sightseeing trips, and Roman hadn't offered anything.

He was going to have to give Whitley a call.

He also needed to inform Emerald.

He found the girl still asleep on the couch, curled into his onesie. It would seem that both of them had needed the extra hours of rest. She was not happy to be woken up, and even less so when he told her about their new job.

"I don't take orders from Roman Torchwick," she stated.

"It's not an order. It's a job that I accepted. It's no different than anything else we've done."

"Really? So, what would happen if you called Roman right now and unaccepted his job?"

Jaune turned away. "I imagine that one night we would fall asleep only to wake up in the middle of Mt. Glenn the next morning."

"So, we're his slaves."

"It's not that bad. We're just doing his favor."

"I really don't think we own him anything. He saved that faunus all on his own, and tacked on that favor as a whim. Honestly, it would've been better for us if he hadn't save her at all."

"What do you want me to do?" Jaune asked. "We can't fight him and we certainly can't reason with him. If he says we own him, we do, no matter how absurd his logic is."

"As far as I can see, you're the only one indebted to him. What goes on between the two of you has nothing to do with me."

"Are you saying you're going to make me go to Mt. Glenn alone?"

Emerald bit her lip. "No, I didn't say that."

"Then we're in agreement."

"We really aren't."

"No, but the bottom line is that I have to go to Mt. Glenn. The only things up for discussion are the details, and we can hammer out those over some food."

"You really are selfish."

"You're the last person I want to hear that from," Jaune said, leading them into the dining room.

There wasn't much of anything they had on hand since they had just moved in, so the two of them had to settle for a bowl off-brand cereal for breakfast although it was actually their lunch given what time it was.

It was quiet at first, both parties thinking it over until Emerald asked the obvious question. "When are we leaving?"

"Whenever Whitley can arrange it. Roman didn't give me a hard deadline, but I have a feeling the sooner the better."

"I sure he'll love that. Haven't even been back in Vale for a full day and we're already crawling to him for help. It's not enough he got us this house or a ride back from Atlas we still need more. He'll probably think we're idiot. We'll be luckily if he doesn't look for a different set of caretakers to sponsor."

"Makes me wonder how we ever got by without his support."

"Had we! Stumbling from one incident into the next losing money doesn't really sound like getting by."

They shared a laugh at that. It was a good laugh, something Jaune hadn't done for a while Everything had been so chaotic recently that he never got to stop chance to relax, appreciate what he had done. Eventually the laughter and the moment tapered off and the silence returned.

"This is going to be the biggest task we've ever done," Emerald said tapping her spoon against her bowl.

"Yeah it is."

"And we're not going to get a lot of time to prepare."

"I suppose not. Grimm aside those echoes aren't going to go away without a plan."

"A plan you don't have."

"I'm open to suggestions."

"Buy a straw hat and a camera, and walk around like Mt. Glenn is the biggest tourist hotspot in the world."

"Heh, wouldn't that be something if it worked." Jaune brought a spoon of what was mostly milk, at this point, to his mouth and looked at Emerald. "What would you say if after this we took a break."

Emerald look surprised. "Am I going to get that trip to Vacuo?"

"Nothing that big. Just staying here doing whatever and having fun. Not worrying about the next monster that's going to appear or the next curse that's being prepped."

"I wouldn't say no especially after this forced labor—sorry, job, but this doesn't really sound like you, mister hero. You sure you won't go running off the minute a cat gets stuck in a tree. Maybe get Roman's help and let him hold it over you."

"Hey, I'm not that bad," Jaune argued. "I can ignore things."

"Really?" Emerald said dragging the word out.

"Yes really. I've let you and Roman run free despite being criminals, and in case you've forgotten, I've robbed a museum and worked for the mob."

"Of course, you're such a bad boy."

"You don't need to be so obvious with your mocking."

"Aw, I'm sorry I hurt your pride. Need me to kiss it to make it all better."

"I take it back. It's not the job I need a break from it's you."

* * *

Whitley wasn't angry or irritated from getting a call so soon; in fact, he was ecstatic. He wanted to know every detail about what they were doing. The day a Schnee was told to calm down would've gone down in history had anyone known about.

"So, you need a way to get to Mt. Glenn." Whitley said after Jaune explained everything, only excluding Roman's name.

"Can you do it?" Jaune replied.

"I'm the heir-to-be of the SDC company. Do you really think I can't organize a single flight?" There was a slight pause. "Although I suppose there might be a slight problem."

"What is it?"

"I'm surprised you can't figure it out considering General Ironwood should have an entire fleet of airships parked above the city about now."

"I haven't seen anything like that."

"Hmm…they must be running late. Winter won't be happy she loathes tardiness. Perhaps I should give her a call and inquire about the delays."

"Do you often call you sisters just to antagonize them?" Jaune asked.

"I would never," he denied using the same overdramatic tone Jaune would use when he was accused of pranking his own sisters. "I am Atlas citizen. I have a right to know why precious fuel has been wasted on a trip that took longer than it should have, fuel my taxes pay for."

"Like you pay taxes, and doesn't the Atlas military buy their fuel from the SDC, so longer trips actually make you more profit."

"Oh yeah, I guess it slipped my mind," Whitley obviously lied.

Jaune didn't call him out on it knowing it would only lead them further into a tangent. It was actually a little surprising that Whitley would allow them to get off topic in the first place. Back at the mansion he had wanted to get everything done as effectively as possible. Maybe his and Emerald's visit had influenced him more than they thought. Up in the air if that was a good thing, especially since Whitley new humor was straight from Emerald's book, but it was nice to see Whitley being a little more causal around him. _This was a business call, though, and they needed to get back to it."_

 _"Why is Atlas bringing a fleet of warships into Vale anyways."_

 _"Unfortunately, that is information I'm not privy to." Whitley admitted. "The official claim is to support Vale's effort to crack down on the White Fang and the dust thefts, but that fleet is overkill in the extreme. It's like Ironwood is preparing for war. All that much force is going to do is alarm the people of Vale, drive any criminal elements into hiding and make Atlas out to be over reactionary, militarized nuts. There has to be another reason, and I'd bet the Schnee fortune that Beacon's headmaster has something to do with it."_

 _"That's a problem for another day, and something you can look into while we're away. For now, Emerald and I need a transport to Mt. Glenn. Why is Ironwoods war fleet a problem for you?"_

 _"Like I said it's only a minor one. I can arrange a bullhead to get you there, no problem, but with an Atlas fleet there they're definitely going to be monitoring the air traffic. They're going to notice an unscheduled flight leaving the city."_

 _"That's fine," Jaune said. "Even if they see it leaving, they won't know where we're going, and even if they do, it's not like this is a super-secret mission or anything."_

 _"Is it not? The Vale council really doesn't like anyone talking about Mt. Glenn. I doubt they'd be happy to find an unknown variable poking around over there. Maybe unhappy enough to get you forcible removed and possibly even detained."_

 _That would be bad, Jaune summarized. He knew the moment he became a caretaker he would be towing the line of the law, but it had always only been in the back of his mind since he wasn't actually doing anything down right illegal—at least he tried not to. This mission came straight down from Roman Torchwick, though. Even if Jaune didn't say anything and a connection between him and Roman couldn't be proven, Emerald was unlikely to survive custody without being found out._

 _"A single unusual departure wouldn't be enough for Atlas to contact the council, though." Jaune reasoned._

 _"You're right, getting you to Mt. Glenn isn't going to warrant anything more than a footnote. The problem is how you're getting back. Mt. Glenn is out of range of the CCT tower. How am I going to know when to send your pick up?"_

 _Jaune hadn't thought about that. Their mission didn't have an exact completion date. He and Emerald might only be there for a few days or entire weeks if they couldn't figure out what to do. Walking back might have been an option, but the barriers, both natural and artificial, that were meant to keep grimm out would probably also do a good job at keeping them in. Not to mention the dangerous grimm that would be waiting around every corner thanks to all the negativity there. It wouldn't be like that mostly peaceful walk through Forever Fall. They would have to fight for every inch._

 _"How are people usually retrieved from grimm territory?" Jaune asked to really no one in particular. "Surly not all huntsmen missions have a set deadline."_

 _"Under normal circumstances, I could send a bullhead every day or every other day to see if you were finished, but that's not going to work and I'm sure you know why?"_

 _"The Atlas fleet."_

 _"Exactly, one flight won't be noticed, but a constant stream is bound to draw suspicion. Even if I have them all marked for SDC use, they'll just call Father which will cause questions that I won't have answers to. Unless you're suggestion I tell the truth."_

 _"That will get us all thrown into the lonny bin," Jaune cursed. "What I'm I going to do?"_

 _"Don't worry about it." Whitley said. "As you're sponsor these are the types of problems I have to deal with, and I think I might have a solution. Just leave it to me. I'll call you later if it works outs. Until then expected a flight around tomorrow morning." And then Whitley hung up._

 _He just hung up._

 _Jaune sighed. What was with people doing that to him recently._

 _He got up from the couch he was sitting on and step out onto the penthouse terrace. There was a pool and plenty of other luxuries, but Jaune had come for the air and the view. Sadly, the view wasn't the same one he had grown attached to over his short stay. A dark shadow had fallen over the city of Vale. Jaune could partially see the fanatic pointing and flashing of scrolls from the people so far below._

 _The Atlas fleet had arrived._

* * *

 _Author unknown_

 _The God of Darkness' spell should have wiped humanity away, and yet we're still here. Roaches picking over the carcasses of those who weren't so fortunate._

 _How is that?_

 _Did the God of Darkness have mercy on us? Of course not._

 _Did the God Light select a chosen few to survive? No, he left just as disappoint as his brother._

 _Were those of us that survived resistant to the spell or just somehow stronger. Ha. Humans are not so special. We aren't capable of challenging a god or surviving any of their divine judgments. Any who think otherwise our fools, the same ones who got us into this mess._

 _We are nothing to the gods of light and dark, yet we persist._

 _The only explanation is that something else interfered. Just as we are nothing more than insects when compared to their power they are no more than annoying pest when compared to the power of something greater._

 _After all, there was a total of three, and we will always remember Thee._


	20. Chapter 20

**An: The hiatus is over! Thanks for everyone being patient with me I know it's been a long time coming, but before we begin there's been a few changes. For one this story now has a beta. Big thanks to ShadowMester234 for volunteering. Hopefully this means faster updates and better chapters. Lastly, I've been working on the new cover art for this story of Jaune's two Pumpkin Pete charms. It should be posted some time later today so keep an eye out for that.**

 **Beta** : ShadowMester234

* * *

"James, would you mind telling me why you felt it necessary to bring an entire atlesian fleet to Vale?" Ozpin asked taking a sip from his trusty mug.

"You know why." General Ironwood respond without a hint of regret.

"I suppose I do. I just had hoped you would have discussed this with me beforehand and not go to the council behind my back."

"I had no choice, Ozpin. You wouldn't have approved."

"And for good reason. What do you believe will come of this? The people are already asking questions. They're scared."

"As they should be. Better to be scared than dead."

"We are in a time of peace. The citizens shouldn't be worried about anything more than workplace anxiety and what they're going to eat tonight."

"How can you say that?" Ironwood grunted. "It's clear to everyone that something's wrong."

"Helped along by the presence of several Atlas warships," Ozpin challenged.

General Ironwood slammed his hand on Ozpin's desk. "My fleet isn't the cause of this growing tensions, it's the response."

"An overblown and heavy handed response. In times like these it's best to be precautious."

Ironwood looked ready to explode. "Amber was attacked, dust robberies take place daily, a serial killer stringing up faunus corpses still hasn't been caught, the White Fang is growing and more active than ever, your own students engaged Roman Torchwick at the docks in his most blatant heist yet, and who knows what else has been going on that I don't know about. Do you really think this is the time to be passive?"

"I'm well aware of what is going on." Ozpin replied as calm as ever. "It is not ideal, I'll admit, but it will be handled."

"Who better to handle it than professionally trained soldiers?"

"The professionally trained huntsmen and huntresses who have been keeping the peace since the war."

"That's what worries me. They're effective at hunting and killing grimm, but it wasn't a grimm who put the Fall Maiden into a coma. Do you really think your children are ready to fight a war?"

"I'm doing everything in our power so they won't have to."

"I hope so, Ozpin. I hope so."

* * *

The bullhead did not shake or rumble. Apparently, Whitley spared no expense even for a rental. Despite that, Jaune's stomach still tossed and turned, but at least he had company. Like any good partner, Emerald was sitting as far away from him as physically possible just in case his lunch decided to relocate from his stomach to the bullhead floor.

He didn't feel sick enough for that, but he didn't blame her for being cautious.

"Jaune, can you hear me?" Whitley's voice said.

"Yeah you're coming in clear." Jaune replied bringing the object, he was holding, up to eye level examining it one more time. The person piloting the bullhead had given it to him when they boarded before disappearing back into the cockpit.

If it had been anyone else they would have had no idea what to do with it, but for Jaune it was obvious. This was how he and Whitley were going to be able to communicate without the use of scrolls, so he wasn't the least bit shocked when Whitley's voice came through. That being said, what he held in his hands looked nothing like a communications device, so much so that even Emerald had been skeptical to its purpose.

What Jaune held was a knife made entirely out of glass. Jaune's reflection danced around it as he rotated it around. "I should have known you'd repurpose your sister's mirror."

"It wasn't doing any good shattered on the bathroom floor," Whitley said probably with a grin. "It was the prefect object to start messing with. You like it?"

"Why a knife though?"

"Like I said, I was just experimenting seeing if I could use it as a weapon, felt like a good place to start, so I hired a glassblower to mold those scattered pieces into proper blades. Unfortunately, the testing didn't really work out, the knife shattered when I hit a training bot just as any other glass-crafted object would. You're actually holding the second iteration of that knife. Well actually, the third if you count the one I'm holding as the second. I'm still working on a way to use these as weapons, though, so don't fret about that. I'm looking through what's left of Grandfather's stuff and I even have guys keeping an eye on auction houses to see if anything unnatural comes up. Getting anymore of this glass would be great, every "scientific" machine or test I put it under shows it to just be regular glass even though we know that's not true. If I had something to compare it to then—"

"Whitley, you're rambling," Jaune said cutting him off.

Jaune thought he might have upset him when a couple seconds passed without a response, but Whitley responded soon enough if a little more awkwardly.

"Hehe, sorry I'll get back to the point. When you called me about this mission, I realized that it might be possible to use these things to talk to each other. It wasn't a huge leap in logic to make. The grimm that were let into the mansion had to come from somewhere. Either the mirror somehow created them itself or, and I thought this far more likely, the glass connected to some other place, some people do say that mirrors are portals to other worlds. I decided to test if each individual piece connected to each other, and wouldn't you know it, they do. A way of communicating without having to worry about distance or signals. No image though, only sound, I think it has to do with how much glass is actually stuck together. It would explain why we could see imagines in Weiss's mirror and why, when you smashed it, we didn't hear hundreds of little echoes of ourselves as we talked."

Jaune was impressed. He wouldn't have thought to even try half the things Whitley did. Hell, he didn't even think to bring the broken mirror back with him. Whitley didn't even have a caretaker manual to help him. He was doing this all with a scientific methodology. If there was any doubt that Whitley's dive into the unknown world was only a passing insert, it had been dispelled.

Although that lead to a different problem, "Is it really wise to be messing with this stuff without knowing what will happen?"

Jaune promptly ignored Emerald's mutter that he was one to talk while Whitley explained. "Of course, it's wise, no progression would ever be made if people weren't willing to poke around into things they didn't understand. Safety, on the other hand, is bit more uncertain. I'm fully aware that pushing to far might get me hurt or worse, but I'm being as careful as possible. It's just harder since I don't know what dangers to look out for."

"So, using these knives to talk to each other is safe?"

A few moments of silence passed. Something Jaune had realized Whitley did whenever he was nervous about his response. "They are safe, right?" he repeated.

"As safe as they can be."

"Whitley."

"Listen it's not like they're dangerous. There's just some potential issues with them."

"How big of issues?"

Whitley gave in. "It's just a precaution but we probably shouldn't be talking through them for an extended period of time. For one, it's not like the original connection to wherever the geist came from was broken. I've noticed some, let's call them, distortions during my testing. Nothing has ever come through, and I don't think anything could, but well, you know. Secondly, we aren't exactly on a private channel. If anyone else has something like this they could probably listen in on us, and we'd have no way on knowing."

"I guess it could be worse. How do I turn this thing off anyways? I don't see a button."

"The pilot should have given you a case along with the knife." Jaune looked to his side where there was indeed a narrow wooden case with a cushioned interior. "You can just put in there. Mirrors reflect light, so no light means no reflection. It appears our magic glass follows the same rules if you throw it into darkness, it doesn't work. That said we're going to have to set times when we want to communicate with each other. I suggest that every day at noon and 8:00 P.M., your time, we check in with each other. That way you can let me know when I should send for your pickup."

"Sounds good to me." Jaune said.

A speaker buzzed above him. "We're are approaching Mt. Glenn, please prepare for departure."

"It appears, we're out of time." Whitley said. "Do your best out there. I want to hear about every detail when you're done."

"Sure thing," Jaune replied before placing the glass knife insides its case before putting that inside one of his side pouches. Then he turned towards Emerald giving her a wide smile. "You ready for this."

"Please, I've already made it through the hard part, surviving a flight with you without get barfed on."

Jaune felt his stomach twist and his intestines burn. "Why'd you have to say that. Talking with Whitley made me forget about it. He's been a better partner than you recently."

"You know I'm sure if I shove a blade into your gut you'll forget all about you motion sickness," Emerald said, radiating some seriously dangerous aura.

"And it's not too late for me to give you a shower."

"I swear if even one particle of your breakfast lands on me all, I'll—"

Emerald was interrupted by the pilot's announcement, "We have arrived." The bullhead doors slid open and Jaune couldn't get out fast enough. Grabbing his monstrous backpack that held the majority of their supplies, he leaped outside followed closely by Emerald.

The moment their feet were on the ground, it was clear something was amiss. It wasn't the eerie surroundings of the abandoned city, nor was it the pack of grimm who had been drawn in by their bullhead and were now surrounding them. No, it was something much more intangible. The air felt wrong, it felt heavier than it should have, and there was this smell. Jaune didn't know what it smelled like. It just went away if he tried to focus on it.

The grimm weren't going to wait for him to figure it out either. He and Emerald cut down a few before deciding that putting distance between them and the drop zone would be a better idea. Who knew how many grimm were on their way to investigate the strange noise of roaring engines?

Once they felt they were far enough away, they dispelled the grimm that had followed them and took shelter inside a building that looked reasonably stable. "You know it's not as bad as I thought it would be," Jaune said even though he was still panting from the run. _Damn this backpack sure is heavy._

"It's only because all the grimm are focused on the leaving bullhead," Emerald said. "When it's gone completely, the grimm should go back to normal and spread out a lot more. I doubt there'll be a single street without at least one pack of grimm prowling it

"Then we need to look around as much as we possibly can before that."

"I would like that idea more if you had a clue as to what we're looking for."

"Don't act like you didn't know what we were signing up for, and it's not like we're in any worse shape than normal," Jaune said trying to lighten the mood. He already knew that this was going to be a rough job. He realized that they didn't have a plan, Emerald didn't need to remind him. "Why don't we start here?"

The building they took shelter in was some kind of coffee house. It was a place Jaune could easily see friends and coworkers coming in to relax and chat. Some of the tables even still had glassware on them. Now, a thick layer of dust showed that neither human nor grimm had been in here for a long time.

Walking behind the counter, there was a trash can fill with crinkled receipts and plastic cups. There were a few dishes still in the sink that would never be cleaned. Behind a partition and away from any customer's view was a bulletin board with a heap of personal and business items tacked on. There was shift schedules, a procedure list showing how to operate some machine, a flyer for some event, and a calendar with the birthdays of two people circled in black.

Jaune wondered how much warning people had gotten before the grimm descended. Had they been pounding at the walls for days before finally breaking through, or had the grimm just suddenly got in. The café offered no answers. There didn't appear to have been a mass panic but then again then there were the things that seemed to have just been left behind in the middle of the work day.

Exploring a little more Jaune found a set of stairs leading to the second floor. Letting Emerald know where he was going, Jaune ascended, testing each step before putting his full weight on it. The second level was a nice sized apartment.

The living room didn't offer anything of interest, so Jaune went to one of the connecting doors. It took a bit of force to get it open, but when he did, he arrived in a very messy bedroom. Clothes were rotting on the floor, posters of bands and celebrates were barely hanging to the wall, and a vanity dresser piled high with tubes of makeup took up an entire side of the room.

Jaune couldn't help but chuckle, thinking how similar it was to some of his sisters' rooms, before it died in his throat as he realized what had probably become of this room's occupant. He walked around a bit looking for…well hadn't Emerald already said it. He didn't know what he was looking for. Roman said he needed find a happy memory. How was he going to find one of those here? He had no connection to this place, yet he felt bad just standing here.

What he was really looking for was inspiration. The hope that a solution would just pop into his head and he and Emerald could get out of here.

"Jaune, I found something," Emerald called from downstairs.

Not really wanting to spend another moment in this room, Jaune went back down to see what she had discovered.

Turned out that behind the counter, in a back room, there was a trapdoor. Jaune only glanced inside that room so he had missed it, but Emerald had obviously been more thorough. The trapdoor had been opened to a steep set of wooden stairs leading down into a pitch-black void. "What do you think is down there?" Jaune asked after looking at it for some time. He was just waiting for a monster to jump out from it.

"Probably just a storage room, but if you're going to investigate this place we might as well do it right."

Jaune didn't have an argument for that. He really doubted he would find any inspiration down there, but ghosts—sorry _echoes_ —would probably be right at home down there. Resigned to his fate, Jaune dug around his backpack for two flashlights and handed one to Emerald.

Testing the stairs leading down even more rigidly than the stairs leading up, Emerald was sent down first. If they broke under her weight, Jaune could pull her back up. The reverse likely wouldn't have gone so well. Jaune followed once she got down without issue. He considered leaving his backpack up here worried about the extra weight, but he decided against it. Call him paranoid but it would be just the thing for their supplies to have disappeared once they crawled back out.

Emerald was right, the under space was a store room. Shelves full of boxes and cans of what had likely been food for the restaurant took up the entire space. Rats scurried about trying to avoid the beams of their flashlights. "It smells awful," Jaune said, trying not to gag.

"There are rats. Rats poop, a lot," Emerald stated matter-of-factly. "With all this food and no people this must be paradise for them." To prove her point, Emerald quickly ran her flashlight along the floor. Jaune caught at least ten of the furry rodent run away.

"Oh, I suppose you'd be a little more experience with this than me," Jaune said feeling a little bad for even bringing it up.

"Living on the streets meant living and eating where no one else wanted to although nothing ever this bad," Emerald said her own nose wrinkling.

"Let's just take a quick look around and then we can get out of here."

"Haven't we already?" Emerald asked. "There's nothing down here. It's just storage."

Ture the room wasn't very big. The ceiling was low enough that Jaune was worried about hitting his head and he could see the back wall. They should have been able to see everything for where they were standing, but that was only if the room had been fully lit. As it was now everything was mostly blurry shapes and shadows. "I don't what to be here anymore than you, but like you said, we should do this right."

"If you say so. I'll let you know if any rat droppings start to float." Emerald said going off to the right.

Jaune shock his head. Emerald was not in the best of moods today not that he expected her to be. A trip to Mt. Glenn forced on them by none other than Roman Torchwick wouldn't be taken well by anyone. Still this small amount of snark was far better than the total bitch she had been when they first met. Hopefully she would calm down after a while.

Jaune slowly walked father in, noting the loud squeaks and scuffling that accompanied every step. He didn't know what he's do if he squished one. Better to just not think about, rats were smart they would avoid him.

Even with his snail pace, Jaune easily made it to the other side of the room. Emerald was right, there wasn't anything down here, just more boxes and cans. It was probably time to leave.

He turned around to do just that when his flashlight buzzed over something in the corner. Jaune had barely seen it, but now that he knew something was there he couldn't ignore it. Unsteadily bringing his flashlight back around, he illumined the object—and it was exact what he feared it was.

Yellowish-brown in color, covered in bits of cloth that were once clothes, slumped into the room's nook, laid a human body. Rats and time had taken care of nearly all the flesh but that didn't make it any less gruesome. Jaune thought he might scream but the sounds didn't come out. All he could do was stare back at the empty eye sockets that seemed to be asking who had woken this dead man up.

"Jaune are you done yet?" Emerald said, sliding in next to him before noticing what he was looking at. "Oh." Her own flash light examined the corpse much more than Jaune's did. A pack of those filthy scavengers had made their nest inside the man's rib cage, and unlike the rest of their kin, they weren't keen on moving. Dozens of little red eyes judged them from their bone fortress.

"Are you okay?" Emerald asked, nudging Jaune's hand.

Jaune closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After counting to ten, he opened them back up surprised to find that he actually was okay. The skeleton didn't look like something that would come alive a moment's notice anymore. It was just a pile of bones, and the creatures that inhabited it were just little mammals that were just trying to avoid the two giants who had invaded their land. "I'm good."

"Are you sure? We can leave if you want."

"No, I'm fine. It just caught me by surprise is all." After all what was this compared to what came before. Bury had been filled with corpse that were still fleshly and recognizable. Jaune had seen a faunus strung up by his entrails, eyes ripped out, and left to bake in the sun for hours. As much as he hated it, he was become desensitized to this stuff.

Emerald seemed to look him over trying to see if he was lying. Once she was stratified, she returned to acting like she hadn't been worried at all. Jaune smiled just a bit, going unseen in the darkness of the room. For all of Emerald's hard talk, she really was a caring partner. He wondered if she even realized what she was doing. This wasn't the place to bring that up, though, for now he'd keep that information to himself.

"What do you think killed him?" Emerald asked, mostly just to fill the silence.

"I'm sure he hid down here when the grimm invaded," Jaune reasoned. "Probably thought he could wait it out. There's plenty of food down here but I don't see any water. Poor guy probably drank all there was, holding out hope for help that would never come."

Emerald looked like she wanted to say something. Likely something along the lines of taking his chances with the grimm instead of wasting away down here. Instead she held her tongue either for some residual respect for the dead or a because of a more personal experience. Sadly, Jaune knew which option he would bet on.

This time it was his suggestion to leave, and Emerald agree. They headed back up the stairs without looking back. In an ideal world, Jaune would have liked to bury the unknown man, but with grimm prowling around every inch of the city and that wouldn't be possible. A funeral also wouldn't give them the happy memory they were looking for. If anything, it would only reinforce the negative memories the echoes already had.

Unfortunately, whoever that was would have to stay down there with the rats until someone else came around to give me a proper send off. Jaune guessed he would be waiting for a long time.

* * *

From his perch, Jaune could see hundreds of grimm prowling below and several goliaths roaming the horizon. Hard to believe he and Emerald had been in the thick of it. Not that they had anything to show for it. They were no closer to solution than they were when they landed.

Controlling his emotions so he wouldn't attract grimm, not that it should matter since supposedly there should have been thousands of echoes to mask their presences, Jaune sat next to the fire where Emerald already was. Currently they were on the 4th floor of a half-destroyed office building. High enough to avoid all the grimm wandering the ground, but low enough to not risk be caught by a nevermore. The stability left something to be desired, but it was the best they could find. At the very least they wouldn't have to take turns keeping watch. Barricading the only entrance with desks, chairs and other supplies would alert them to anything trying to get through.

It had basically been a requirement for their temporary shelter because looking at either of them made it was clear they needed sleep. An entire day of fighting grimm and searching decaying buildings really took it out of you.

"Did Whitley have anything to say?" Emerald asked, fighting off a yawn.

"No," Jaune replied, "I just told him we didn't need anything."

"We do though."

"Not anything he can get us."

Something collapsed in the distance, and the stampede of grimm going to investigate shock the entire building. A particularly concerning crack in the ceiling grew even large. The fire continued to dance, illuminating the room. Their only source of comfort in this dark, cold place.

"We aren't going to be able to this," Emerald said curling her knees under her chin.

"Come on it's only been a day," Jaune laughed off. It wasn't normal for her to be to despondent. "We knew we might be here for weeks."

"We're not going to survive here for weeks. Grimm are everywhere, civilization is an entire bullhead flight away, and we don't even know what we're doing. Roman sent us here to die."

"You don't need to go that. He isn't that bad."

Emerald scoffed, "sure he isn't."

"You don't even know him."

"I bet I know him better than you."

"How so?" Jaune asked, tilting his head to look at her.

She continued to gaze into the fire offering him a halfway broken smile. "Went on a heist with him once. Back before he was Vale's most wanted. It wasn't anything huge, but it was bigger than anything I could have done on my own. He promised riches that would keep me feed for a year if I joined his little crew. The heist went off without a hitch. I played my part perfectly, but when I went back to the safe house to collect my reward, Roman wasn't there. He had taken the money and ran leaving me and all the other hired hands behind. I got to starve that night."

"Roman doesn't strike me as the type of guy to go back on his word," Jaune said.

"I bet a lot of people thought the exact same thing right before he robbed them blind." Emerald threw a pile of papers into the fire causing the flames to roar outward before settling back down. "It's what makes him such a good thief. He has a talent for getting people to trust him despite knowing he's a criminal. They think that they're different, that for whatever reason he's decided to look out for them."

"But what about honor among thieves," Jaune said continuing his defense for the person who gave him his new life. "Wouldn't it be bad for his reputation to betray his workers? Maybe something happened to him where he couldn't deliver the money."

Emerald head swung so fast in his direction that the shockwave seemed to stroke the flames. Red eyes dug into him. Jaune felt sweat drip down the back of his neck. He didn't think he'd ever seen her this mad. "I see he's caught you too although I guess I'm the fool for not realizing that the moment you mention him. Listen to me, Jaune, Roman is only out for himself. He doesn't care about anyone else. He betrayed me because he knew he could. What would the words of a street rat matter to him or anyone else."

Her voice came out cold and chilled him worse than the night air ever could. Jaune really had to same something. "Alright maybe Roman was like that back then, but not anymore. Someone who doesn't care about other people wouldn't become a caretaker in the first place. It's even in the name. Also, he saved Blake," the very event that caused them to be here in the first place, his treacherous mind pointed out, "that has to count for something."

The look Emerald was giving him told him that it didn't. She hadn't grown any angrier. She just looked so frustrated. "I know you're grateful to him and everything, but this whole caretaker thing was just him dumbing all the work he didn't want to do onto you."

Jaune didn't have a comeback for that and even if he did, Emerald didn't want to hear it. Signaling the end to their conversation, she turned her back to him and entered her sleeping bag.

With no more reason to stay up, Jaune laid down on his own and slowly drifted off the sleep listing to the grunts and growls of the grimm below.

* * *

Every day it seemed that the cost of booze rose and the quality plummeted. One day those greedy bastards would go too far and he would stop paying.

"Hey, I'm out over here! You going to get a me refill?" he shouted.

The barkeep came over and examined him. "Do you have the funds to afford another drink, sir?"

"Just put it on my tab."

"I'm afraid we can't do that, sir."

"Smug bastard," the man sneered looking around the rest of the bar. He spotted one of those business types all dressed up in a suit and tie with an arm around a fine-looking piece. "Put it on his card."

"Are you two friends?" The barkeep said, asking stupid questions.

"Does it matter, he's clearly got money to burn."

The bartender didn't answer, nor did he get him a drink. It was a standoff. One that ended almost before it began. Having had enough the drunk slammed his hands on the counter and went to confront the rich snob.

The pair of tits in a purple dress saw him approaching and tugged on the man's sleeve to get his attention. The well-dressed mogul turned towards him. "What do you want?" He said probably thinking how he was too good to be talking to the common folk.

"Be a buddy and spot me a couple lien," he said, wobbling. "I know you've got it. Come on, little help for a guy down on his luck."

"Leave us alone," the mutt barked while he very obviously pulled his date closer to his side. Was he trying to pull some white knight garbage, protecting her from the big bad world. Please, that skank would be way better off with him than that corporate sheep.

"How about you loan me her too. I'm sure she'd appreciate a man who knows where to stick it."

"What did you say," the man yelled taking a stand, face bright red and bursting with rage.

So, the dog had some bite after all, but he was far from done. "You heard what I said, but I'll put it in terms your kind can better understand. Let me mate with your bitch." If an attack was going to come it would be now, but the moment it did the fight would be over. This guy didn't know who he was messing with. No matter what happened aura would protect him.

The punch cam fast and hard. Aura did not protect him because he didn't have aura. Blood squirted from his nose and a tooth loosen as he tumbled to the floor. His vision had already been a little blurry but now he couldn't tell up from down or brown from blue. The only thing he was aware of was a lifting sensation before crashing down.

The ground felt different and everything was warmer. He eyes hurt and his eardrums felt like they might explode from the sudden increase in noise. "Would you all shut up," he gargled through the blood he hadn't spit out.

No one did and the noise continued to grate on his mind.

It took him while to realize he had been thrown out and even long for him to get to his feet. Wiping away the blood from his upper lip, he descended deeper into this shit stain of a city looking for a bar that would recognize his greatness.

One day he would rule this world. His chance was coming he could feel it. This aimless life would soon come to an end and everyone who had ever messed with him would come to regret it. He just had to wait a little longer.

His scroll vibrated in his pocket which was strange since he couldn't remember the last time he had gotten a message from anyone. Pulling out his scroll, he noticed that everyone around him were doing the same.

The message he received was simple:

 **Grimm have breached Mt, Glenn. Please remain calm and seek shelter.**

Not a moment later a siren that put any other noise to shame blared to life. It took less than a minute for the whole city to fall in chaos completely ignoring the second half of the message. People were screaming and running in every direction like animals let loose from their cages.

In the middle of it all he stood there, completely still. This was his chance. A crisis was occurring. If he could stop it he would be hail a hero. The knowledge that he had no training or weapon didn't even faze him. All he could think about was the rewards and the fame. So, enamored by his illusions of grander that he didn't even notice the car that swerved off the road.

He was back on the ground, but this time he couldn't feel it. All he was aware of was the warm feeling across his entire body. He tried to get back up and found that he couldn't. He tried to bring his hand to his face and found that he couldn't. He couldn't do anything but watch as the warm red liquid continued to leak from his body.

Confusion gave way to anger.

He trashed around trying to dislodge himself from the twisted metal that trapped him, but stopped only seconds later after the pain became too much to bare. "What the hell is this!" He was the goddamn hero. He would be the one saving people not the one being saved. It was his destiny.

Anger gave way to sadness.

He couldn't die here. He couldn't die as some nameless loser. His life was just getting started. There was so much he wanted to do, so much that he hadn't even attempted to do. This wasn't fair.

Sadness gave way to despair.

His vision grew darker. This wasn't fair. His life didn't have any meaning. He had done nothing of value. Even now he wasn't going to die fighting off grimm or saving a life. He was going to die because of a damn accident. The grimm had breached the walls and he wasn't even going to see them.

But, as if answering his last pray a single beowolf wander into his vision. It didn't seem to have noticed him, but surely it would sniff him out soon. If he was going to die he wanted to at least be killed by a grimm. At least then he would have gotten some dignity.

His vision grew even darker. There wasn't much time left. He did everything he could to get the Grimm's attention: thrashing against the metal that trapped him, slapping the ground with his arm and calling out with the little amount of strength his voice possessed.

It worked. The grimm's snot angled towards him. The beowolf examined him, easy prey that would have been no challenge for it to take down. It would be over soon, but then the unthinkable happened.

He could have sworn he saw the grimm smirk before it turned around and headed in a different direction denying him even the death he wanted.

Fingers clawed against the ground, spilling even more blood as the hard-concrete cut into his skin. His one life couldn't end like this. He refused to let it go to waste. He didn't care how unreasonable he was being. He deserved another chance. He would survive no matter what.

His vision faded to nothingness.

* * *

"Hello sweetie, what's your name?"

"Emera—Azula." _Why had she almost said Emerald? That wasn't her name and yet for a second it had felt like it was._

"And who's this little man?" the ice cream lady asked again bending down to greet her little brother.

"This is Jade."

"Oh, how cute. Are you two here on your own."

Azula puffed out her chest. "Yes, we are." Their parents had finally let her and Jade go out on their own. Granted it was only to the ice cream parlor and back, but it was a chance to show how mature she was. "I would like a scoop of strawberry and Jade would like…"

She turned to him letting him make his own choice. Poor Jade looked so nervous with his fingers twisting along his lips. He kept looking at her wanting her answer for him, but being a good sister meant helping your younger brother become a grownup and grownups spoke for themselves.

"Vanilla," he finally whispered.

"Coming right up," the nice lady said plopping a scoop of ice cream into two different bowls.

Azula handed her some lien and made sure to stuff the change deep into her pocket. "Thank you," she said as she took her brother's hand and lead him outside. If they were gone long, mom would start getting worried, and if mom got worried, then Azula wouldn't get to go out by herself for a long time.

"Slow down, I want to eat my ice cream," her brother complained.

"You can eat it when we're home," she snapped back. Jeez, their house was only a couple blocks away. Couldn't he just be patient?

There was a lot of people walking around today. Normally Azula would have slipped between them, but with her little brother and the risk of bumping into someone with their ice cream, she kept them with the flow.

It only got worse when a loud crashing sound echoed in front of them causing the foot traffic to grind to a sudden halt. Jade jumped at the sudden noise and only barely held onto his ice cream. "What was that," he whined.

Azula could only roll her eyes. This was a city loud noise happened all the time. If Jade didn't spend all day in his room playing video games he might have known that. "Someone probably just had an accident. Don't worry about it. Let's just get home."

The people in front of them didn't move, however. This just stood there like they were bolted to the floor. Seriously, didn't these people have more important thing to do than admire a car crash. Azula knew she did, and she didn't even have a job.

Eventually the adults did move, but not in the way she wanted them to. It started with them slowly taking one or two steps back. Azula was forced to pull her and her brother back as well not being able to see what was going through all the legs.

Then a deep growl sounded farther up. That was all it took for crowd to lose it.

Azula was knocked around as the adults stampeded backwards. She lost her brother's hand and was sent to the ground. She landed painfully on her knee, skinning it. Panicking, she tried looking for her brother who had been carried off somewhere—and then she saw it.

Past the forest of legs was a furry black creature with white plates sticking out of it. It wasn't alone either. Azula thought she saw at least two others in the few glimpses she got, and all of them were running her way.

Azula got to her feet and desperately searched for her brother.

How had grimm gotten into the city? It was supposed to be safe.

The hard edge of a suitcase cut into her cheek and sent her to the ground again. She had to continue the search on her hands and knees.

She had to find him and then they had to get home. Dad would know what to do.

A siren had sounded at some put, but Azula ignored it. The crowd was beginning to thin, and there he was! Her brother sitting on his knees, crying. Azula raced towards and grabbed his arm. "We've got to go!"

"But my—" he said pointing to where he had dropped his ice cream.

"That's not important!" she yelled pulling his arm. She didn't know where she was taking them. Their path home had been cut off and Azula didn't know any other routes.

Seeing a small alley between two buildings two building Azula shove her and her brother into it. "Azula, it smells bad," Jade whined.

"Shut up." She finished her scroll out of her skirt pocket trying to pull up a map. "Come on, hurry up." The map app opened but it was so zoomed out. She zoomed in as fast as she could but it was faster than her scroll could handle. She hit a loading screen as her scroll tried to retrieve the details.

"Azul, I'm scared!"

"I said shut up!" Her scroll slipped from her hand from a combination of how sweaty they were and how tight her grip had been. Her scroll didn't go far but it went far enough to end back up on the main street.

Azula went to grab it but before she could do much more than reach out, a black paw stepped on it. Yellow eyes indented into a white mask regarded her. Pushing her brother behind her and feeling urine run down her leg, Azula slowly backed away.

The grimm sulked towards her matching her step for step. This went on until her back collided with something. Azula glanced behind and saw that it was a solid wall. The alley they had entered didn't exit out to the other side. They were trapped.

The grimm kept creeping closer. There wasn't any choice. "Jade you have to run," She said stepping forward to shield her brother.

"No," he howled, "I can't leave you."

"You have to!" Azula screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. The grimm was so close now she could have reached out and touched it.

Her legs were shaking and body felt like lead. She kept telling herself she wasn't scared. As long as her brother survived it would be okay. She just had to protect him. He had to survive no matter what.

The grimm's jaw clamped down.

* * *

Emerald woke up in a cold sweat. Immediately, she looked around for Jade before realizing that Jade didn't exist. No, that wasn't right, Jade was real. That wasn't just a dream. Never had she had dream where she membered ever detail. What she had just gone through was a memory. An awful, horrible memory about the people who died here. It was the only explanation.

She noticed that her partner was up too. There was a haunted look on his face as he sat up in his sleeping bag looking off into the distance. "Jaune," she said.

Her voice seemed to snap him out of whatever he was thinking about. "Oh, you're up too," he replied before realizing what that meant. "I'm guessing you had an unpleasant dream as well."

"You didn't tell me these echoes can make us relive their memories?"

"Trust me, I didn't know either."

"So, this is just Roman's idea of fun."

Jaune didn't think Roman knew either, but he didn't want to get into another fight. He already had enough on his mind. "Let's just go back to sleep. Now that we know about this we'll be better prepared. Maybe we'll even be able to keep them out." It was clear for the sound of his voice he didn't believe that, but Emerald didn't say anything, waiting to believe it herself.

Settling back down into her sleeping bag, Emerald knew sleep wouldn't come easily. She couldn't stop her hands from shaking and there was this feeling in the pit of her stomach like she had ingested pure ice. It was very unpleasant and the knowledge she would likely have to experience another when she finally did get to sleep didn't help. Staying up until morning wasn't an option. It wasn't even midnight yet. If she didn't sleep tonight, she would be risking drifting off sometime during the day.

But, getting to sleep was easier said than done. Almost an hour passed and she was still very much awake. Every time she closed her eyes she saw the widening jaw coming down on her and Jade. It really shouldn't have affected her, but there was a difference between a nightmare and actually living through someone's finals moments. It shook her like nothing else.

The scuffling from nearby informed her that Jaune wasn't doing any better. They had to do something.

"Jaune."

"Yeah."

"Can we sleep together?" Emerald didn't know if this would change anything and it was kind of embarrassing, but she had already slept with his onesies. This was really only one step up.

Jaune would have never suggested doing this probably because of some masculine pride or the fear of making things awkward, but Emerald didn't care. If doing this could offer any sort of comfort it would have been worth it. At the very least it wouldn't hurt.

"Sure," Jaune said after a bit of processing.

Emerald moved her sleeping bag next to Jaune's and he rolled over so he was facing her. The poor boy was blushing like mad and looked as stiff as a board. He obviously wasn't going to do anything, so Emerald took the lead and nestled her head right under his neck so when the echoes came they would see his head first, and just maybe to hide her own tint of red.

It didn't fix the problem, but she did feel a little better.

* * *

Letter to the headmaster of Beacon

 _Dear Ozpin_

 _I would first like to apologize for the unexpected arrival of Sun Wukong. I understand that he has already gotten himself into some trouble beyond that of illegally entering Vale by boat. Rest assured he will be given a severe punishment upon his return. Until then I do ask you to provide him accommodations as he is a registered member of the Vytal Festival and while the suggestion of disqualifying him was brought up it will not be taken in the interest of not punishing his team for his lack of judgment._

 _As for the rest of team SSSN and the other teams Haven has chosen, they should be arriving soon. I hope they will be well accepted at Beacon._

 _Also, I know some security concerns have been raised and talk about postponing the festival or even canceling it have been floated, but I believe it would be unfair to the students if they were not allowed to demonstrate their skills in the Amity Colosseum just as every generation before them. Absolute safety at huge events like the Vytal festival can never be guaranteed. As headmaster of Haven Academy, I strongly recommend the festival continue as planned._

 _Signed_

 _Leonardo Lionheart_


	21. Chapter 21

**Beta** : ShadowMester234

* * *

Back home, Jaune had been in love with the idea of his sisters crawling into his bed after a nightmare or during a thunderstorm. The thought that they would feel safe and protected just because he was there made his heart swell. They never did, though. The older ones for obvious reasons, but even younger ones never sought out their older brother. It was always the older sisters they wanted, usually Saphron. Jaune supposed that even his youngest sister recognized that he was too weak and cowardly to fight off the imaginary creatures of the night.

But now, things had changed. Firstly, the imaginary horrors turned out not to be so imaginary after all, and secondly, a girl had come to him seeking refuge for the night. It wasn't one of his sisters, though, and that caused a whole different flood of emotions to entire his heart.

Emerald slept soundlessly curled up against him with her head resting on his chest, and just to complete the romantic image, sometime during the night Jaune had wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

If anyone had seen them, there would have been no doubt in assuming they were a couple. They weren't a couple though, and that's where the problems laid. Jaune didn't know what to do or how to feel.

On the doing part, he wasn't sure if she should wake Emerald up on or not. It was pretty early in the day, but it would probably be best to be exploring as much as possible while the sun was up. On the other hand, last night had been pretty rough and they might be more efficient in the time they did have if they slept for a little longer. Also, this bled into the feeling part, he just didn't really want to wake here.

Even before Mt. Glenn, Emerald never looked entirely at peace when she slept. It was always like her mind was only half resting, ready to jump her body into action at any moment. It was clearly a skill she had picked up from her life on the street but one that Jaune had hoped would have dissipated after living with him for a while. Was it a sign that she didn't trust him? He didn't think it was. Jaune simply believed it was a habit she was having a hard time breaking.

This was the only time he had seen her truly sleeping deeply. A little strange given where they were, but considering the echoes threatened them more internally than externally maybe it made sense she would pull all her focus inward. Jaune didn't believe for a second that his presence was the reason for the drastic change. It wasn't like sleeping together was some almighty emotional defense.

He was pretty confident that sleeping next to each other hadn't stopped a single dream. He had woken up from the memories of at least three other people during the night, and from the haziness in between, he was sure Emerald had experience at least that many. Directly sleeping together hadn't done anything, but indirectly the feeling of someone beside him every time he woke up was very calming, reminded him that he wasn't alone. Because of that, going back to sleep and facing the dreams again wasn't so hard, but that led him to the much more complex "feeling part" of his dilemma.

What were his feelings towards Emerald?

She was gorgeous there was no doubt about that. She was his partner and they spent practically every second together. They were even living together, so it wasn't like they didn't know each other well enough. In fact, Jaune would bet that he knew Emerald better than anyone. The reverse was probably also true, at least with regards to the new him. He had changed a lot after being rejected from Beacon and becoming a caretaker. He doubted his family would even recognize him anymore.

The thought made him smile. He should give them a call after this. He still hadn't gotten around to talking to his sisters after everything that had happened.

His eyes drifted down to the green-haired beauty sleeping next to him. Maybe he should introduce her. No, that would be too soon, and Emerald definitely wouldn't like being interrogated by all his sisters.

Still, with all the time they spent together and their position it was only natural that some level of attraction would grow between them, and Jaune could admit that it might very much be romantic.

Jaune's arm unconsciously tightened around her shoulders. Would they really make a good couple? Thinking back, they fought all the time. They could rarely spend an hour together without one of them dropping a snide comment. There were also Emerald's own feelings to consider.

It wouldn't matter what he felt if she didn't feel the same way, and despite their current situation, it was hard to determine that. Sure, she might have asked to sleep with him, but that was due to the situation. It wasn't impossible that there were some romantic feelings behind it, but he wasn't willing to bet on it. To her this probably wasn't much different than sleeping in the same room, and they had been doing that since they meet. Then there was her teasing of them dating or even married at times. Was that just how she messed with him, or was she trying to give him hints that she wanted him to take the next step? However, Emerald was a very direct girl. He couldn't imagine that she wouldn't just come out and say it if she did have an interest in him. So, was the fact that she hadn't mean that she didn't think of him that way?

Jaune groaned, lying his head back down to stare at the cracked ceiling. It was all so complicated. If his mother were here she'd probably yell at him for thinking too hard and treating love like an analytical problem. That wasn't how it worked and deep down he knew that, but at the same time, he couldn't stop himself.

For now, he would just put all that on the backburner. This wasn't the place to bring all that to the table. Once this job was over he'd confront it, they were planning on taking a break after all, that would be the best time. Away from this place that was wreaking havoc of their emotions.

It was time to get back to work.

Jaune gently shook Emerald awake. He wouldn't have been able to go back to sleep even if he wanted to, so letting her sleep was pointless although she would probably disagree. Red eyes opened going from wakening haziness to full awareness faster than Jaune could have ever dreamed of.

She didn't stammer or blush at their current position. She simply pushed off him and started packing up camp knowing what they were doing without him having to say a single word. They were just that in tune with each other now, and because of that, despite Emerald's prefect mask, he could tell that waking up next to him had gotten her at bit flustered.

"I'm all for getting out of here as fast as possible, but don't you think we should have breakfast before you pack up our camp."

Emerald stopped dead and Jaune chuckled. No doubt that she realized she had been caught. Her haste had given her away—and what was this? Was that a tinge of pink Jaune saw?

Slowly and robotically Emerald set down what she was holding, trying to give herself time to think of a remark to explain it all away. Unfortunately for her, Jaune beat here to it.

"You don't need to be embarrassed. I've always known you'd be a clingy sleeper."

She snapped back around her blush darker than ever but with a confident smile. "Yeah, I'm sure you had a great time. Just don't let that reward go to your head."

"Hey, what do you mean reward? I remember you being the one to ask for a snuggle buddy!"

"You're obviously misremembering. I'll saw your lost, pathetic look last night and decided to do some charity work. Having a girl as gorgeous as me sleep next to you must have been a dream come true, but I see it went to your head, so you can say goodbye to ever getting close to these babies ever again." She leaned forward giving Jaune a good view of her breast and even pushed them together just to make sure he knew what she was implying.

It was so childish and dumb, but damn it, it worked. Heat crept up his neck and face and he knew Emerald had caught him staring. With a prize-winning smirk, and not a hit of pink as if this was somehow less embarrassing than sleeping together, she twisted back around and walked off to get the supplies to start breakfast. Her hips noticeable swinging as she walked.

Where had that girl that a clung so cutely to him in her sleep gone? He wanted that one back. This Emerald was broken.

* * *

Breakfast wasn't a huge affair. Bacon cooked over a fire with biscuits on the side. Jaune had brought enough food to last them a week and a half and much longer if they needed to ration, but that wasn't a big concern. If something went wrong Jaune was sure Whitley could airdrop them any supplies they could possibly need.

"Do we actually have a plan today, or is it just wandering around again?" Emerald asked.

"Technically, wandering around is a plan."

"You know what I meant."

"If I didn't know what to do yesterday, do you really think I would have found a new clue while we were sleeping?"

"You're right, I guess that was a stupid question of course we don't have a pl—"

"Because I did."

Emerald stopped eating in surprised and skepticism "So, we do have a plan?"

"Not really."

Her eyes narrowed as she fixed him an irritated look. "Care to explain what you mean by that."

Jaune made a show of rubbing his chin and humming obnoxiously. "If I had to describe our situation it would be that we still don't know what direction we're supposed to be going, but I did find a compass."

The biscuit Emerald was holding crumbled onto the floor as her hand balled into a fist. Baiting her probably wasn't a great idea, but he couldn't help himself. Plus, he needed a way to even the score.

"Speak in terms I can understand," Emerald stated.

How easy it would have been to turn that around, but Emerald wasn't dumb. It was clearly a trap. If he said something clever then she would have every justification to attack him. Well he wasn't falling for it.

"Those dreams last night weren't all doom and gloom. I learned some interesting about Mt. Glenn from one of them. There's more to it than we're seeing."

"What does that mean?"

"I think it would be better to show you."

* * *

Mt. Glenn's underground was a sight to behold. A city nowhere near the size of the one above but still bigger than the village Jaune grew up in. sunlight pierced through the many holes in the ceiling illuminating the underground expansion, but come night this place would likely become a well of darkness. Not good since it took them the better part of the day to find a way down here without breaking their necks, aura was nice and all, but Jaune wasn't ready to test his landing strategy for the first time.

Coming down here was nothing more than a hunch brought on by a dream. Technically, Mt. Glenn had fallen twice. Once when the overworld was overrun and then when the underworld was broken into. Most people would wonder why anyone would stay down here when the upper city fell. They must have known how dangerous it was, but thanks to that dream Jaune didn't have to wonder.

Mt. Glenn had been made for a very specific purpose, to relieve the population burden on Vale. Those who came to Mt. Glenn found they weren't exactly welcomed back. It didn't matter that the grimm were on their doorstep. They had to be sitting on living room couch before an evacuation was called, far too late at that point. Little wonder so many angry echoes arose. People who were not only robbed of their life, but also betrayed by the people who they believed would protect it.

Jaune would be pissed too. It was kind of the reason why he thought to come down here. The closer they were to the epicenter the more likely they were to find something useful, or so he hoped. Like he told Emerald, he wasn't basing this off any evidence. It just felt right, and lacking anything else that was good enough. It did appear that there were far less grimm than there were on the surface, so at least that was an undeniable advantage.

The two amateur spelunkers finally touched the bottom level after their long descent. "Well we made it." Emerald did not look impressed. "Everything looks the same except dirtier and creeper. Also do you smell that?"

Now that she mentioned it, something did smell odd. Jaune remembered smelling something similar when he jumped out of the bullhead. It had never gone away he had just gotten used to it, but now it was definitely stronger. "Yeah, do you know what it is?" he asked still not being able to place it.

She shrugged. "No idea. I can't even think of anything similar. It's not bad but at the same time, I don't really like it."

"Me too, but on the bright side unnatural smells mean we're getting closer."

"Closer to what? Our goal is to implant a good into these echoes, and I might not know what a happy memory smells like but I'm pretty sure this isn't it."

"You think that there are more echoes clumped together down here and that's why it smells like this? Is this what a ghost smells like!"

"Great, creatures we can't see, hear or touch but we can smell. If I start tasting anything strange, I'm leaving. I don't care what Roman will do if we quit. Nothing could be worse than that."

"Please don't say that out loud." Jaune shuttered. "Somehow Roman always knows what I'm doing and I'm afraid if he hears that, he'll do something just to spite you."

"You're over exaggerate."

"I wish I was…I wish I was." The absolute hopeless Jaune radiate was enough to attract a few grimm. They were cut down in short order, but it was enough to convince Emerald that he was being completely truthful. As they walked farther in, Emerald kept glancing around as if Roman would jump out at any moment.

Jaune wouldn't be surprised if he did.

Their first stop was the train station, the only noticeable difference between this place and the city above besides the tracks themselves. Surprisingly, the train was still parked on the platform out front, a rusting husk still waiting to be filled.

"Think it can still run?" Emerald asked as they passed by.

"Maybe, clean it up a little, fill it up with dust and theoretically it should. Not like there's anywhere to go anymore."

On that happy note, it was decided that Emerald would investigate the train cars while he would look through the train station building. It was pretty sparse inside with only some desks, stacks of worn papers and dust—so much dust.

Jaune didn't think he would find anything in here but he kept wandering around just so he wouldn't finish too soon. He poked around the desks to no avail and tried to read some of the documents, but those were illegible to the point that they may have well been in a different language.

There was a computer on one of the desks and having nothing better to do Jaune pressed the power button knowing it wouldn't turn on. Which was why he nearly jumped a foot in the air when it did.

The bright holoscreen lit up the room as any form of startup was skipped and a wall of text was displayed. Sitting down to get a better look, Jaune saw it was the station's timetables. The train's arrivals and departures were all there recorded down to the millisecond.

Jaune scrolled down the page out of nothing more than idle curiosity, but it quickly became apparent that something was very wrong. The last entry should have been on the day the grimm broke into the underground or maybe the day before but that wasn't the case. There was about a two-year gap of nothing before suddenly a new entry was recorded. From there, entries were placed in sporadically with some happening over a year apart and some being within minutes of each other.

Getting to the very bottom of the page, Jaune found something particularly alarming. The last two entries had the date set to yesterday. If the train really had been running he and Emerald had been right on top of it. Before he could look into it any further, the computer shut down and no matter how many times he pressed the power button it wouldn't turn back on.

Alright, it wasn't time to start freaking out yet. There was no way the train was still actually running. It was probably just an error. It did look like all the records were recorded automatically. There was probably a sensor on the track or something and grimm could have easily tripped it over the years. Don't question how that sensor would still be powered, the computer did so it wasn't unreasonable. Weren't ghosts supposed to mess with electromagnetic fields or something, that could be the explanation.

It was a nice theory that he just crafted, but Jaune knew no matter what reasoning he came up with unless he went out to look at the train itself he wouldn't be satisfied. He was just worried about what he might find. He had enough problems without adding runaway trains into the mix.

Stepping outside, Jaune went to the side of the train and got down on his hands and knees to examine the undercarriage. If the train had been moving there was one easy way to tell. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw the wheels had a layer of dust on them at least an inch thick. This train hadn't been moved in a long time.

"Hey Jaune, can hear me! You might want to come see this."

And suddenly, his relief was dashed. If Emerald found something that she thought was important enough to bring to his attention then it couldn't have been good.

She was on one knee, staring intently at the ground, when Jaune found her near the head of the train. "What did you want me to see?"

"Before I show you, you didn't happen to walk over here before now, did you?"

"No."

"That's what I thought, but now the question is who made these?"

Jaune looked over Emerald's shoulders and saw what she was talking about. Imprints on the ground that were faint but could still be made out to be either human or faunus. Jaune didn't know much about tracking but he gauged from Emerald's expression that they must have been fresh enough to suggest they weren't alone down here.

"I just don't understand," Emerald said, standing up. "It just doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah, and that's not the only thing." Jaune explained what he discovered in the train station.

"That's creepy, but I checked the inside of the train and saw the controls. Trust me no one has touched those in more than a decade. It has to be a mistake. Those footprint, on the other hand, aren't. Whose could they be? Actually, do you think it could be Roman?" Emerald glanced around nervously.

Jaune gave it some thought but shook his head. "No, jokes aside, I really doubt Roman would be here. He sent us here specifically because he couldn't make it. If he could have come himself, he wouldn't have asked for our help."

"That I agree with, but what reason would anyone have to be down here?"

"Maybe it's the same reasons as us. Mt. Glenn is close enough to Vale that all the grimm the echoes draw in must be a problem. We aren't the only caretakers in the world. It's possible someone else got here before us."

"I think you might be right, and another caretaker might be good for us. We could exchange information."

"Do we really have any information to exchange?"

Emerald flushed. "I meant that we could work together to solve this problem. It would be better to pool resources."

"Aren't you being uncharacteristically optimistic? We don't even know for sure if they are a caretaker, or if they won't attack us on sight. Maybe they think it's better to remove the competition."

"And aren't you being uncharacteristically pessimistic? Listen, I don't exactly like having to go chasing after a stranger, but I would rather find them before they find us especially if they're hostile."

"So, you think we should go after them?"

"Do you think we shouldn't?"

"No, it's just that…" Jaune motioned to where the tracks led. Right into the train tunnel. The very dark, very eerie train tunnel.

"Don't tell me you're scared?"

"When there are actual ghosts haunting this place, yes, I'm a little worried."

"You weren't like this at the Schnee's mansion."

"There were no endless tunnels of darkness and death at the mansion."

"I can't believe this," Emerald said, rolling her eyes.

"Let's just get going. I'm sure the long walk will be more than long enough for you to make fun of me."

The pair prepared their flashlights and made their way to the tunnel entrance. Before they could step in, however, a strange noise that sounded like a mix between a wail and a rumble called from within. It was loud enough to shake some debris from the tunnel ceiling.

"Well, isn't that ominous," Jaune said. Even Emerald looked a bit shaken now, but they had already made their decision, so they could only continue forward.

* * *

Jaune had never experience darkness like this. Most people probably hadn't. The type of darkness where he couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that the beam of light coming from his flashlights was his only peak into the blacked-out world. A substantial danger when walking through a forsaken underground tunnel. Even with aura, a misstep could cause serious injury. Not to mention, that a practically sneaky grimm could spell the end of them.

Their best option was to use the steel tracks as their reference point. As long as they stayed a measured distance away from the protruding wooden planks, that were just waiting to trip them, they wouldn't lose their way. The trail of footprints they had been following had been lost to the darkness long ago, so this was their only choice. They just had to hope their quarry didn't break off the main tracks and head into a maintenance tunnel. Passing by them would be the worst possible scenario.

The only thing that kept Jaune from the belief that wouldn't happen was that unnatural smell that got stronger and stronger as he went farther and farther. Like Emerald said, it wasn't an unpleasant or disgusting smell. It just didn't feel right, like the equivalent to a very low-frequency sound, and by now it was overpowering everything else. If this third person really was after the same target, they shouldn't stray.

However, straying soon became a minor concern as the track split off up ahead creating two paths instead of one. Each one heading into an identical looking tunnel. That couldn't be right, though. The tracks only connected Mt. Glenn to Vale. There shouldn't have been any alternative paths, there just wasn't anywhere else to go. Yet, evidence to the contrary was right in front of him.

"Which way do you think we should go?" he asked his partner.

No response.

His breath hitched and the weight on his back grew as he swung his flashlight around despite already realizing what had happened. Emerald was missing.

Jaune tried to think back to the last time he had seen her flashlight beam. They had definitely walked into the tunnel together and they had even been talking to each other. He remembered that, but when did it stop and why didn't he notice. How could he have not notice half of his light source disappear? How long had he been walking alone, on autopilot? How long had he been walking at all?

Everything was getting hazy. Darkness devoured all including time.

He fished out his scroll for his pocket. There was no hope of connecting to Emerald this deep down, but checking the time could help him get his bearings—or it could make things even worse by telling him it was three in the morning. He might not have known exactly what time they entered the train tunnel, but it couldn't have been any later than 4:00 and no matter how messed up Jaune's time scale was there was no way he had been walking for nearly twelve hours.

Should he head back the way he came and look for Emerald? No, they couldn't have gotten separated like this naturally. Something had caused this whether it be the echoes, the unknown third person, or something else entirely. Regardless since this was done on purpose backtracking wasn't likely to fix it. Forward was the only option, but which forward was the right one. The tunnel split in two and there was only one of him.

Maybe it wasn't real. Maybe the choice didn't matter at all, but maybe he was trapped in a maze that only by choosing the correct path would he escape from. There were no hints on which path was correct and there was no point in waiting for one to show up.

For better or for worse, Jaune strayed left.

* * *

Emerald was drowning. Water swirled around her nostrils and mouth making her lungs screamed.

She didn't know how she got here, but it wasn't as if she had a gap in her memory nor had she suddenly been teleported. She remembered walking into the tunnel with Jaune, and she remembered talking to him while they avoid tripping over the train tracks, and then she remembered being here. There should have been a step in between the last two but there wasn't, but like she said it wasn't because something was missing. The events happened just as she remembered it was just that in this instance causality had been ignored. Event B had not occurred because of event A. The two existed independently of each other. It was like the opposite of how a movie was edited where two takes were sewed together create the illusion of a continuous narrative. In this case, it was like a single take was split into two to create the illusion that there had been a cut.

But, Emerald did not have the time to philosophize about all that. She had to worry about getting air into her lungs. That was easier said than done. For one, Emerald was not a very prolific swimmer. She did know how, but it wasn't like she frequented Vale's public pools. Two, the direction of breathable air wasn't known. Third, even if she did know could she hold her breath long enough to reach it.

If she had been thinking straight she could have relaxed, and let her natural buoyancy guide her in the direction of the water's surface, but time was ticking down fast and in a crisis the most unnatural thing to do would be to relax. Emerald was left with only her instincts and her luck.

She swam left. There was no reason or rationale behind that decision it was just what she decided. If she was wrong, she would die.

She swam as fast as she could, but it was hard to judge how far she had gone in this murky water. Thirty seconds passed than a full minute. Still no sign of the surface. Her legs felt heavy, actually her whole body did, but her legs especially. She wanted to take a break, maybe even have a little nap. A few minutes couldn't hurt.

All she had to do was close her eyes.

In the midst of falling asleep she noticed something. There was something in front of her obscured by the dirty water. It looked a like an arm and it was reaching down to her, trying to rescue her.

Using the last of her energy, Emerald pushed forward and grabbed on not knowing who the arm belonged to. It pulled her up and her head broke the surface. Coughing, hacking and shivering, it was all she could do to look up at her savior.

It was Jaune, but he didn't seem happy to see her. In fact, he looked disappointed.

"Jaune?" Emerald said trying to find any hint of warmth on her partner's face.

"Great another worthless catch," he spat. "When I'm I going to find someone useful?" Then without hesitation, Jaune pushed her back in. Submerging her once more.

* * *

Jaune was on a train. No one else was and the rumbling of the cars was the only noise he could hear. Looking out the windows didn't offer anything, either, as the outside was a blurry mess. Completely unnatural but so was this all.

Jaune stood up from the chair, he was sitting in, noticing the lack of weight on his back. His backpack had disappeared along with his sword, scroll, flashlight and assumedly the lint in his pocket.

In one final test, Jaune tried to summon his journal by holding open his hand. No matter the circumstance or where he was it should have appeared, but it didn't here. Either someone was using their own magic to stop him, or the path he chose had led him to a different dimension. The book had talked about a realm called the Dreamscape and this place certainly felt like it could be it.

Shame he didn't have the transdimensional plate to test his theory, but out of all the supplies he thought to bring he had left that at home. Not like it wouldn't have been whisked away with all his other stuff if he had.

The train rumbled on, but as Jaune stood there in thought, a different sound cut through. It was the train's speaker that made an announcement with a voice that sounded like a corrupted audio file. "Att-ion passenger—the tr-r-r-r—reachinging file stop."

Jaune didn't know if he believed that. This seemed like the kind of train ride that would last forever, but he was proven wrong when the train slowed to halt, and open its doors. Once he stepped out onto the train platform, he was greeted by the last person he ever expected to see here. His older sister's wife, Terra.

"Jaune it's so good to see you. Saphron will be so happy, but that will have to wait till later."

"Wait a second, what's going on? Why are you here?"

"Don't try to tease me. I get enough of that from your sister." Terra frowned. "Now come on I'll give you the tour."

Jaune didn't have much choice but to follow her as she quickly strolled away. "A tour of what?" he asked.

"The Argus relay tower. You know the place you'll be working at."

"What are you talking about? I don't work there."

Terra stopped and stared at Jaune like he was a rowdy child. "You do now. This is your first day, after all."

Jaune tried to say something, but Terra was quick to shush him.

"Listen, I know you wanted to be a huntsman, but that didn't work out. It's time to move on. I had to call in a lot of favors to get you this job, so can you please just pretended to like it. You're smart so I'm sure you'll be fine even without any experience, but if you show up to work with that attitude every day, no one is going to want to keep you around. I know it might get tedious some days, but if it makes you feel better without the work we're doing people wouldn't be able to communicate with each other. In a way, we are heroes."

"I'm fine with what I'm doing now," Jaune said finally able to get a word in.

"Oh, grow up!" Terra yelled. The world shook as her anger transformed her facial features into an ugly snarl. "It's time to stop living in your fantasy. You're not a hero and you never will be. That dream is over. Now you get to live the same way the rest of us do. In an office, doing the same thing day in and day out until you die!"

"You're wrong," Jaune said standing his ground.

"I'm not." The train platform crack and chunks of the ceiling fell down. "Stop acting like you're better than the rest of us. It's time to accept it. You. Are. A. Loser."

* * *

Emerald was walking through a school hallway that seemed to go on endlessness. She had never been inside a school before, but she could still tell that is what the place was supposed to be. Doors on either side of the hall with a single window built into them, and a room number off to the side. Trying to open them was futile and the window only showed a room full of empty desks no matter which one Emerald looked through.

That meant her only option was to keep walking along the endless hallway hoping that something would change. She wasn't holding out much hope, though. It was very possible that her surroundings were mealy repeating themselves with only the room numbers increase as she went.

It was an unnerving experience made doubly so by the constant whispering. The whispering that made it sound like there were people just a little farther down the hall or in one of the classrooms, but there was never anyone around, and the whispers followed her no matter how far she walked. It wasn't even anything she could understand just mumbling that sounded almost like words but weren't.

She tried to ignore it, but that wasn't easy. It was pretty much the only thing to focus on. The hall was bland and everything else was inaccessible. What was she even supposed to be doing here?"

"Get lost."

Emerald spun around as fast as she could, but just like all the other whispers, there was no one to take credit for it. That one had sounded so much closer though, and she could actually understand it.

"Trust me if I could I would," Emerald said back, giving herself a brief relief from the whispering. In response, they only seemed to grow louder. It was as if this whole place was made just to taunt her.

She kept walking. Room 436 eventually became room 2216 and so on and so on. Nothing changed, nothing moved, everything was stagnant. Everything except the damn whispering! It never stopped, yet it never quite stayed the same making it impossible to stop hearing it. Every second it grew, if not louder, more insistent. Pounding on her brain like hail.

She was reaching her breaking point.

"Would you all just shut up already!"

Surprisingly they did. The noise was washed away and there was silence at last, but just like the incoming tide, the whispers returned. This time in a way Emerald could fully understand.

"What is with that girl?"

"A stuck-up bitch."

"I heard she lives on the street."

"Smells like it."

"Just a dirty thief."

"Why doesn't she just die?"

"The world would be better off."

They were just words. They didn't mean anything. She had been through worse, much worse. What did she care about the thoughts of people she didn't know and weren't even real. It was stupid.

"Criminal."

"Killer."

Emerald quickened her pace.

"Traitor."

"Whore."

She sprinted trying to outrun them. It didn't work. They were always just one step behind her. She would be running away from them forever.

* * *

Jaune couldn't move. It wasn't that he was trapped by something and couldn't get out, his body was literality locked in place. He couldn't even move his eyeballs to look around. Having your vision locked in place was a very uncomfortable feeling.

On the bright side, even with his limited view, he knew where he was. He was back in the cellar that Emerald had discovered in the restaurant. He wasn't sure if being here was a good thing, but at least this time he could see the place clearly.

Before he could confirm anything though, Emerald walked down into the cellar closely followed by—himself!

"It smells awful," the other Jaune said.

"There are rats. Rats poop, a lot," Emerald stated matter-of-factly.

It was exactly the same. Everything that happened the last time he and Emerald were down here was repeating except this time he was observing from the outside. Did he good back in time, or was this another Bury situation? No, both of those would be stupid. He was probably still in the Dreamscape which meant the other Jaune was just a fake, but was Emerald also a fake?

It seemed more likely than not, but he didn't know how this place worked. She might be trapped in something on her end that made her repeat events she'd already done. If only he could get her attention somehow, but that was impossible. All he could do was watch through his unmoving view.

Eventually fake Jaune made his way closer and real Jaune was able to get a better look at him. It was definitely him from the clothes to the hair, but there was one thing wrong. It was his expression. Jaune didn't think he had ever made an expression like that. One with an upturned smile that made it seem like he was sharing in an inside joke.

Fake Jaune's flashlight buzzed over him and then quickly returned as fake Jaune looked straight at him. It wasn't until then that it finally clicked for Jaune just what he was in this scenario. His position and now fake Jaune's reaction confirmed it. He was the skeleton in the corner.

The revelation was more stressful that it probably should have been. It was just hard to imagine himself inside someone else's corpse.

Just like the last time, fake Jaune just stared at him for a bit in shock and horror although, Jaune noticed, not as potent as he thought it should have been. Emerald eventually came to fake Jaune's side and offered him some clumsy comfort.

Jaune didn't know if she didn't notice or just couldn't do anything else, but Fake Jaune clearly wasn't responding to her worry correctly. He was just going through the motions. Saying what he needed to, so he'd be staying on script.

He was acting.

Panic flooded Jaune's mind. Emerald was in danger. He didn't know what this imposter was planning, but he couldn't just be doing this for no reason. Was he planning to hurt Emerald?

As if the imposter could hear Jaune's thoughts, his eyes shifted in a way, that Jaune knew his never had, to looking right at him. Then outside of Emerald's vision, the impostor's eyes narrowed and his mouth slanted in a grin that could never exist on Jaune's face. It could never exist on any human's face.

It was all the evidence he needed to know he had to do something, but there wasn't anything he could do. He tried desperately to move any part of his deceased body but it was useless. He could only watch as Emerald and the imposter walked away from him and headed back upstairs.

He was shouting inside his mind for her to come back, but she disappeared from his view without a single look back. The imposter, on the other hand, did look back before he ascended. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of her, better than a sullen corpse like you ever could."

He ended with a thumbs up and left Jaune to sit in the cellar with the rats until someone else came and found him.

Jaune guessed he would be waiting for a long time.

* * *

Emerald was standing in the streets which looked nearly identical to the ones in Vale, but Emerald knew this wasn't Vale. The venue of this segment was Mt. Glenn back before it had fallen to grimm.

Not that it mattered. The buildings might have been nicer but the place was as deserted as ever. Not even any whispering this time which she was thankful for. It wouldn't last, though. She could feel something watching her, and that ghoulish smell had returned. She hadn't even realized it had been absent until now, but she sure noticed its return.

But, what did its return mean? Jaune's theory had been that it was the smell of a bunch of echoes clumped together, but it was clear by now that the echoes were behind everything she had gone through recently and it had been absent. It was the smell of something more specific and it was close—closer than ever. If she could do something about it, maybe this endless nightmare would end.

Emerald might not have been as well versed in magic as Jaune, but she had picked some of it up and had enough brainpower to figure out the rest. Magic might not conform to regular rules, but it did have rules. This problem had a solution and the first step was finding the source of that scent.

Tracking it down wasn't going to be easy, however. Emerald knew it was close but that wasn't as helpful as it sounded. What did close even mean in this place? In the school hallway, the whispering had been "close," but that didn't mean anything could have been done about it.

This space could have been distorted so that, physically, the source was over a hundred miles away and she would have no way of knowing. Looking for it normally would be wasted effort and time wasn't exactly on her side. The something that had been watching her had grown into a bunch on somethings. She was quickly being surrounded.

She had to ask herself what the outcome of all of this was supposed to be. Sure, she had been strung around for who knows how long, but that couldn't be the end goal.

It might seem strange to think about that now, but knowing that would determine how she would respond to the situation. For instance, she didn't think this place was trying to kill her. It could have easily been accomplished back at the lake, and if killing wasn't the goal than what was stopping here from just ignoring her stalkers.

If fact, now that she thought about it, was it even possible for her to be killed here? It had certainly felt like it while she was drowning, but it had felt the same when she had been relieving the memories of the deceased last night. She might have felt everything, but when it was all over, she didn't die because, in the end, it was just a dream. This place didn't feel much different.

Her stalkers finally made their appearance. A horde of people, like zombies from a movie, flowed from every street and between every building. Emerald recognized them as Robin and the other children she had under her, duplicated a thousand times over to fill the crowd.

Even though Emerald knew what this place was, she still couldn't stop herself from shaking. The way their empty eyes watch her and how their arms stretched towards her, trying to pull her in, reminding her things she'd rather forget.

Doubt crept in questioning if she was right and they really couldn't hurt her. Her fight-or-flight response that relied on all her life was screaming at her, but now wasn't the time to hesitate. None of this was real. It was all fake nothing more than an illusion—and she was the queen of illusions.

Maybe it should have been obvious from the beginning. Maybe some being out there was laughing or rolling their eyes on how long it took her to realize, but that was the thing about dreams, was it not? You didn't realize they were dreams until you woke up.

Emerald swept her arm back and channeled her semblance. It wasn't aimed at anyone in particular but on the world itself, and the world reacted. The horde froze and building wrapped. The sky fell apart and the ground sunk and bloated as it tried to maintain its shape.

The unnatural smell came in at full force as for the first time in her life Emerald felt something push back against her semblance. As if she was going to let something like that stand in her way. Whatever force was trying to stop her didn't stand a chance.

Her surroundings were blown away like a set being ripped from the stage as her semblance took full control. By the time it was all over, there was only a pure white vacuum in every direction. Actually, that was one thing that hadn't been caught by her semblance.

With nowhere left to hide the source of the smell was left in plain sight. It was a smoky figure that somewhat resembled a human. It had no expressions to speak of, but Emerald could feel its frustration.

"Not as much fun when you're not the one controlling it, is it?" Emerald mocked.

"Get lost," the mist said, or she assumed it did since the actual sound seemed to come for every direction at once.

"How about you," she replied unleashing her semblance on the origin of all her troubles. The mist seemed to have already accepted its defeat because it evaporated after what could only be considered a nudge from her semblance.

Then, she opened her eyes into a world completely different from the one she had been in. It was too dark to see anything, but she could feel the dirt and dust under her stomach and on her face. More importantly, though, she could feel the flashlight clutched in her right hand.

Standing up and turning it on she wasn't surprised to find herself back in Mt. Glenn, a couple feet from the entrance of the tunnel. Jaune was laid out nearby so she went to go wake him. Gently at first but taking on a rougher approach when he refused to stir.

"What…huh, Emerald? What happened?"

"I'll explain it to you later, for now, we need to find shelter. We've been out of it for a while." It was a miracle that they hadn't been devoured by grimm while they had been in that state. Emerald didn't want to push their luck any further.

Jaune seemed to agree as he quickly regained his senses. "Yeah, let's go. Hopefully Whitley doesn't send the entire SDC security force for missing the check-in. We have a lot to talk about without having to worry about being interrupted."

"More than you know."

* * *

Excerpt from the book

 _So much credence is given to the story of Ozma and Salem. True they would become two of three wizards along with Faunus after the gods revoked that power from the rest of the world, but that reputation cause people to forget about the most important character in that story._

 _Salem's father, the man who constructed a tower capable of repelling entire kingdoms and slaughter the fiercest warriors, and inside it he imprisoned his daughter. Why did he do it? Cruelty alone doesn't explain the lengths. Did he know that his challenge would build the pyre to light a new age? No one knows for certain. How could they when not a single record of him exists. Not even Salem herself knows his name or what he looks like._

 _That man, if he should even be called that, appeared out of nowhere to set the stage and then when it was finally conquered, he was nowhere to be seen. No congratulations nor condemnation for Salem and her knight. He simply stepped out of history._

 _What worries me about that is that one day this person may decide they want to step back in._

 _What would we do if that were to happen? What could we do?_


	22. Chapter 22

**Beta** : ShadowMester234

It really was amazing how dark it could get down in the underground. A veil of darkness promising to devour anything that entered. With the only thing halting its approach being the border of their own little campfire lit world.

Jaune spotted a set of glowing eyes in the distance and sealed the window with a blanket cover, trying to keep any light from passing through. There might not be a massive amount of grimm down here, but lighting a beacon to attract them all wasn't something he wanted to do.

Time had been short to find shelter after they had woken up, and there was really only one place they could get to that they knew wouldn't be crawling with grim. The train station wasn't ideal. It only had one floor and multiple entrances so it wasn't as easily defendable as their last camp. That meant they had to post a watch which at least avoided the awkward question of if they were going to sleep together again.

Jaune had taken the first shift since he doubted he would have been able to sleep anyways, despite barely being able to keep his eyes open. Emerald was probably the same way, but she had reluctantly agreed to try. Judging from the shuffling he kept hearing, she wasn't making much progress.

Maybe that made sense since, technically, they had been sleeping up until half an hour ago, but sleep was supposed to rest the body along with the mind, and he was pretty positive his mind didn't get any rest while trapped in that illusion.

Emerald had told him everything that happened on her end, and he was still trying to process it. It had pretty much been decided that there was no third caretaker and it had all been the echoes' doing, or a very specific echo if what Emerald saw was right. It was probably the reason why all the other echoes were acting extraordinary since they were tangentially connected to each other.

Everything he had read about echoes made it clear they weren't supposed to be able to haunt your dreams. They hadn't even found a solution that problem, and now they were confronted with the fact they could be trapped in one even if they were still awake. They were able to escape it thanks to Emerald's semblance, but there was no guarantee that would work again.

Keeping on the defensive was a losing strategy anyways. Even if Emerald could beat it back every time. Eventually, they would collapse from exhaustion or the grimm would get to them while they were still trapped. Perhaps that was its plan. If it couldn't kill them in the illusionary world then having them experience enough negativity to alert the grimm would do the job. If that was the case then they really had been lucky to not attract the grimm for upwards of five hours.

Actually, that wasn't right, there was no they could have survived on luck alone. Something must have help in preventing the grimm from finding them.

Jaune tapped his fingers along the windowsill while he thought and couldn't help but smile when he came up with the answer. It was the echoes themselves that kept them from being noticed. This entire city was awash in negativity because of them, so of course the grimm would have trouble noticing anyone else's. Though, that all went out the window if the grimm were close enough, so it was a good thing they had killed all the nearby grimm before then.

Why had they done that again? Oh yeah, he had attracted them all when he had been thinking about Roman and his complete knowledge over everything he did.

Okay, it was time to quickly get off that train of thought! No more thinking about how Roman had inadvertently saved their lives. If Emerald ever found out, he'd never hear the end of it.

Back to thinking of solutions. They had to get rid of that echo. Roman had mentioned spells that could destroy a single echo, and Jaune had looked into them, but not only was he skeptical they'd work on that abnormal echo, but it also felt like a waste. While its existence was clearly bad for them, it also presented an opportunity.

Their goal was to rid Mt. Glenn of every single echo, and up until now they had been running around without a clue. The biggest problem being that they didn't know how to overwrite an echo's negative memory with a happy one, but step one of the problem may have been solved.

The echoes had been able to influence them since night one, but they hadn't been able to do anything to them in reverse. With this special echo that had changed, Emerald had proven it. They had an access point. If they could turn it around and make that echo believe in a positive memory, then Jaune was sure that would be enough to infect the whole population. It would be like taking out the general of an army.

It was a good start, but what could they show it? Implanting something generic wouldn't work. That wouldn't sway the echo any more than it had swayed him when he was trapped. It was the personal stuff that got to him. Terra's anger and Emerald's abandonment, it was those things that made him worry and scared. Played on his biggest fears and made him doubt himself. Made him believe that it might be real.

That's what they had to hit it with. Something personal, something that tugged on the heartstrings and made everything real. The belief didn't have to last long, only for moment, just enough time for that echo to forget the tragedy that made it an echo in the first place. If only they had anything like that.

To do that they would need to know something about it, and that information was severely lacking. This really did seem like their best course of action, though. They just needed a way to fish that information out.

"Jaune, would you stop doing whatever you're doing. I'm trying to sleep over here," Emerald yelled.

Jaune jumped, realizing that he had still been drumming his finger against the windowsill while he'd been lost in thought. It must have been pretty annoying. "Sorry."

Emerald groaned, lay back down on her sleeping bag then immediately changed her mind and rose to join him. "It doesn't matter. I wasn't going to be able to sleep anyways."

"You should at least try," Jaune said with some hint of worry noticing the beginning of eye bags.

"I did, it didn't work. I don't know what changed but I feel like I can sense them now. Just hovering around me waiting for me to slip away."

"I'm pretty sure it's only in your head."

"You're probably right, but it doesn't make it any less uncomfortable. I know they're there, so maybe my brain just made something up to confirm it."

"I don't blame you. Even I'm getting the sense that the echoes are more agitated. We poked the big boss and now he's sending his minions after us."

"As if that hadn't already been happening, and what's with this "we" business? I'm the one that put it in its place. You were busy with your beauty sleep."

"Are you seriously going to fight me over who deserves the credit? We're partners, it doesn't matter who did what."

"Spoken like some who hasn't done anything. Maybe it's time you hand over the book and I take charge."

"Careful what you say or I might actually take you up on that offer, enforcer."

Emerald growled at the designation Whitley had given her. "Did you ever get ahold of the little snowflake."

"No, we're just going to have to wait until the next contact point. We can't risk missing that one either because we're going to need his help."

"Help in what way? We're still good on supplies."

"I've come up with a plan, but for it to work we need as much information about that special echo as possible and we aren't in a position to do any research. Whitley, however, has more than enough resources to do some digging."

"And what do you expect him to find, exactly? Putting aside what you even need this information for, Mt. Glenn was a tragedy on a massive scale. I don't think there's going to be a compressive list of every casualty. Even if there was, how would Whitley find the one we're looking for?"

"This echo is a special case, so whoever created it must have been a special case as well," Jaune answered.

"I'm sure that's totally something that would be in their profile," Emerald said sarcastically. "I hate to say this, but you're expecting too much of Whitley. He's going to need a name to go off of, or at the bare minimum, a description."

"Then we'll just have to get that."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"You're not going to like it."

"I don't doubt it," she murmured, gazing off to the side. "What are you going to do?"

Jaune held out his hand and his journal appeared in it. "I'm going to put my knowledge of etches to the test."

Jaune explained his idea while he meticulously drew a rather large etch in the center of the room.

"You were right," Emerald said from her spot on one of the desks, "I don't like this. This is stupid and reckless, and think you should reconsider."

"You have any better ideas?"

"No, but just because we don't have an alternative right now doesn't mean you should jump into the most dangerous one."

"If I could I would try to think of something else, but we're running out at of time. We've only really lost one night of sleep so far, but I can already feel it and I know you can too. At this rate we have one, maybe two, more days before we're completely drained. I would rather do this now while I can still think.

"Then let's head back to Vale. We can spend a night there then come back."

"I told you what Whitley said. The Atlas military will pick up on it if there's an unknown flight from Vale to Mt. Glenn and back."

"They won't notice one extra trip," Emerald argued.

"Probably not, but we can't risk it. Nobody's supposed to come out here let alone two teenagers. If they catch us, we're definitely going to be arrested."

"Whitley would cover for us. It's not like we're actually doing anything illegal."

"They'd still keep an eye on us. We wouldn't be able to return to Mt. Glenn."

"Does it really matter? This is Roman's problem. If he wants the echoes out of here so badly he can do it himself."

Jaune signed as he put the finishing touches on the etch, checking his notes to make sure everything was right. At least, what he believed would be right. "Just drop it, Emerald."

"I won't! What does Roman even what this place for? It can't be for anything good. Are you okay with that?"

"It doesn't matter what Roman has planned. It doesn't even matter that this was his request. This is what caretakers do. Good or bad this is my job."

"You say that now but you don't know what the consequences will be. Assuming that you don't just die right here."

"Roman's a thief not a monster. Besides there's no one here, who could he hurt?"

"You're just not thinking creatively enough," Emerald said trying one last time.

"I'm done arguing about this," Jaune replied. "I'll be leaving now. Destroy the etch and wake me up in an hour or if something happens to my body." Jaune stepped into the etch.

"Wait!" Emerald said, jumping off the desk and grabbing his wrist. "Let me go instead. With my semblance, I can fight back."

"That's exactly why you need to stay here. It's already proven you don't need to be asleep for the echo to affect you. If my plan fails and it attacks the person outside the etch then you can bat it away and then help me. If it's the other way around though, we'd both be trapped."

Jaune gently lifted Emerald hand away from his wrist and headed to the center of the etch. "Just promise you'll be careful." He heard her say.

"I promise I'll _try_ to be careful." She didn't laugh at that like he thought she would. Not even a little.

Jaune lay down in the center of the etch. It wasn't active just yet since he had left a single stroke unconnected in the center. Once he filled it in there was no going back. They would see one way or another if this worked as intended. The etch he had drawn wasn't extremely complicated, at least by his standards. In essence, it was only a gravitational etch drawn to pull inward, in other words, towards him. It was the sub-effects that he had added that made this etch special, and that was where his knowledge and certainty became fuzzy.

Through massive amounts of practice, he had gotten all the standard Tactillan symbols down. The ones he was using now, however, were unfamiliar. When he had been doing his initial testing, they hadn't seemed to do anything, but according to the book, the combination of etches he had laid out were supposed to set the etch to affect the mind. What Jaune had taken that to mean was that it switched the etch's target from physical to mental. So, with all the put together, theoretically, the etch he had created should be "to pull the mind inward."

The plan, as Jaune saw it, was to use this etch to pull all the surrounding echoes into his mind. It was a crude method but without a way to target the echo he wanted directly, this was the only solution. Doing it this way would also hopefully have the added benefit of giving him more control. These echoes were capable of hijacking people's mind and imposed their own memories taking away any freewill. Basically, it was just a really immersive movie.

With that special echo, however, it had been different. Emerald had been able to fight back because she wasn't trapped in anyone's specific memory. She had her own body and even her own power. The hope was that by forcing all the echoes in at once the clashing and colliding memories would create enough chaos for Jaune to do the same. From there he could browser the memories like a catalog and find the information he was looking for. That special echo had already shown it was possible to pry into his memories, so all he was trying to do was replicate it.

Now, it didn't take much to recognize that this plan had a ton of holes in it. Some big enough to swallow Mt. Glenn, and Jaune wasn't oblivious to them. Starting with the etch itself "to pull the mind inward" was pretty ambiguous. In a perfect world, a defect in the etch would just mean it didn't work at, but the world was not so kind. It was possible that "mind" was more literal than he believed and his brain would actually just collapse in on itself once the etch was activated, or despite being made to only target consciousness, which was all the echoes were, Emerald's mind could still be pulled into his leaving them both defenseless. Even if the etch works exactly how he intended, there were still issues. The main one being that he had no idea what would actually happen when he tried cramping an unknown number of echoes inside his head. He might just die on the spot, or the special echo might not even be caught which would make this entire thing pointless.

A thousand ways for it to go wrong and only one way for it to work out. Little wonder Emerald was so nervous. Jaune probably had better odds of surviving if he actually pointed a gun to his head and fired, but he wouldn't get anywhere by playing it safe. He was just going to have to put his faith in his theory and instinct. Still, even by his standards this was beyond reckless Probably should complete the etch before he lost his nerve.

"Alright, I'm off. Wish me luck." He didn't wait for Emerald to start berating him again. With the chalk in his hand, he connected the final stroke of the etch and closed his eyes, hoping that it wouldn't be for the last time.

* * *

There were so many colors. Like fireworks going off under his eyelids. They were shapeless but vibrant. Some spots felt like they were pulling him forward, and he found he didn't want to resist. But! Before he did anything, he had to orientate.

 _My name is Jaune Arc. I'm currently sharing my mind with possibly hundreds of other consciousnesses. My goal is to get any information I can out of a special echo so I and my partner, Emerald, can clear Mt. Glenn of all echoes._

Good, his sense was self was still intact. That alone was a major hurdle that he hadn't be guaranteed to overcome. He just had to make sure it stayed intact. Everything was fine now, but that wasn't likely to last when he got into the thick of things. He had to remember. Forgetting would strip him of any power he had here.

 _My name is Jaune Arc. I'm currently…_

He kept repeating those words to himself and would continue to do so. For now, though, he needed to find his target. He wasn't really sure how to go about that, but since he was after the strongest echo it would probably be reasonable to head towards the strongest pull.

Although moving in this world wasn't as easy as that. Firstly, he didn't really have a body to move, but it didn't feel like he was floating to his destination either. It was hard, if not impossible to explain, it didn't even feel like he was traveling at all. More like he was a passenger in a perfectly stable vehicle. The only way he could even tell he was crossing any distance at all was because of the pull he was feeling from multiple sources. All of them were getting stronger, not all at the same rate, but some were certainly eclipsing others.

Was this the results of all the echoes fighting with each other? Well, maybe "fighting" wasn't a good description, but there was definitely a war going on inside his head. A war of influence to decide who got to infect his mind with nightmares of the past.

The scenery began to change. The world of colors and space shifted into something he was much more familiar with. A floor, tables, and booths popped into existence along with a body for Jaune. Not his own body, but one he was familiar with.

It was the body of the first echo to haunt his dreams. The guy who got drunk, hit on women in the worst way, and would meet his end crushed under a car. Whether it was coincidence or because of a strange connection, Jaune was back where it started.

He looked around, which he was able to do freely this time around, and saw that all the other bar patrons were acting strange. The barkeep was completely frozen while the couple in the back had already started the confrontation despite not having been confronted yet. The entire place was also shifting around like none of the furniture could decide where it was supposed to be.

It was all very surreal, but that was to be expected and Jaune didn't have time to gawk. He could still feel the pulls and now he had a body to approach them. Jaune left the bar and walked into what felt like an abstract painting. Mt. Glenn was barely recognizable as Remnant architecture let alone place people had built and would live in. Shapes resembling building were stacked and twisted into each other. People and cars were phasing through buildings as they traveled along every dimensional axis. The sky was a patchwork of different sun positions and cloud coverage.

The madness of trying to merge all these separate memories was on full display. Jaune wondered how he was ever going to be able to navigate it to find his target. He didn't have to worry about that for long, though, since suddenly he was in a dining room with an old woman yelling at him.

Then he was back out on the streets facing down a grimm while holding a shovel. The grimm lunged, but before Jaune could swing the shovel, he was in the underground, wrestling with a mass of screaming civilians.

The jumps were similar to what he experienced while under the control of that special echo, but these were happening in rapid fire. He couldn't even get his bearings before he was whisked away to another corrupted memory.

Not only was it annoying, but it would be impossible to track down his target, let alone gain any information from it. The pulls weren't useful if they kept rearranging every seven seconds.

There had to be a way to navigate this chaos. It was his mind, after all. He should be able to traverse it however he liked. A person's mind was their kingdom where anything they imagined was true. Maybe, he just needed to remind himself of that.

 _My name is Jaune Arc. I'm undoubtedly sharing…_

Unfortunately, no matter how many times he repeated those words, or how hard he believed in himself, the jumping did not stop. He didn't have a single bit of control over what happened to him.

Right now, he was in a cave, around a fire, with a few others listening to the sounds of rummaging grimm, but soon that would change. He needed a plan and he needed one fast because right now he was just be thrown around.

Although wasn't that to be expected, Jaune thought as the scenery changed once again. Even if this was his own mind, it was him against hundreds. Could he really be expected to win?

The shoulders of his current body slumped. Maybe this was a pointless fight. The plan had been to slip through all the chaos, but instead he had been caught inside of it which, in retrospect, had been a very likely outcome. At least this miscalculation wasn't life-threatening. The constant jumps were annoying but they weren't doing any real harm. Emerald would eventually wake him up and he'd be free. He'd wouldn't have gained anything but it wasn't looking like he would lose anything either. With how unstable this whole plan had been he could probably count that as a victory.

What were they supposed to do if this failed, though? Would they really just have to risk it and head back to Vale? Staying at Mt. Glenn wasn't an option. While Echoes didn't do any physical damage when they attacked, the mental strain they were causing Emerald and he would do just a good a job of killing them indirectly.

If only they had a way to protect their minds from being invaded. Actually, why did the echoes invaded in the first place? Not the special one that knocked them out before the train tunnel, that one was a different case, but the normal ones that could only haunt their dreams. What did they gain from doing that? As far as Jaune knew they couldn't actually possess his body and make it their own. He was sure that would have happened on their first night here if they could.

Was it really just to kill them by drawing grimm to their negativity? If it was it was a really ineffective strategy. Unlike the one in front of the train tunnel, regular echoes couldn't knock them out whenever. They had to wait till he or Emerald was asleep and by then they would have already set up a defense to alert them if grimm did come charging in.

Sure, it was possible those echoes just didn't have any other way to try, but Jaune just couldn't see what they could achieve from killing the two humans who wander into Mt. Glenn. He refused to believe they were just mindless drones doing this for no reason, either. The evidence was right in front of him.

The shifting sea of memories of those long dead. Each trying to be the one to wiggle their way into his brain. If an echo didn't have something to gain from being the one to come out on top then why would it bother trying? Just what could that be, though?

Jaune racked his brain but he just couldn't come up with an answer. What if he worked in reverse? How did knowing their memories affect him?

Negative emotions and wiriness were obvious, but what else? He guessed that he gained new experience even if they weren't very useful. He had also learned more about the kind of place Mt. Glenn was before the tragedy. He had gotten a feel for the cites daily life, and experienced the harrowing sensation of living in an underground shelter. He knew the names and faces of people who had passed one before he was born…he remembered them.

Was that what all this was about?

Jaune couldn't stop himself from making a sound that was too sad to be called laughing. After all this thinking and worrying, did all they want was to be remembered? They plagued him with memories so he would know who they were. Ha, the nightmares probably hadn't even been intentional. It was just all these echoes had to make their desperate call. The last memories of a life that no one knew about. Nobody except themselves.

Jaune felt reinvigorated. This wasn't a pointless battle. Navigating the chaos wasn't an impossible task. If the echoes were fighting over who he remembered, he could easily choose a victor.

 _My name isn't Jaune Arc. It's Richard Cube, a worthless drunk that pesters women and thinks the world owes me._

The current scenery fell apart and was replaced by a familiar—a very familiar bar. "Hey, I'm out over here! You going to get me a refill?" he shouted to the barkeep who came over to examine him.

The couple in the back were trading flirtatious comments, and all the furniture was staying in one place. One minute passed and then two and still no jump. He was stable where he was, but that wasn't good enough. The strongest pull still felt too far away. He needed to get closer. Moving his physical body wouldn't do anything. He needed to get closer to the memories of that echo, and he had a good idea of where to start.

Jaune closed his eyes and imagined a fully constructed underground city under attack by grimm. People were scared and running into a train tunnel, trying to get to safety. There was screaming and crying and cursing.

Jaune felt his head throb as what he imagined was filled in and edited by an echo who was remembering. A connection was being formed between his generic fantasy and the echo's specific experience.

Now he was in the train tunnels running alongside a group of others, the grimm right on their heels. The lights were flickering and an explosion rocketed somewhere far behind them. A woman tripped and was quickly pounced on by grimm. She started screaming for someone to help her. He kept running determined to make it to safety even as he listened to the sound of flesh being ripped from her bone.

The pull was stronger here and that mysterious smell had worked its way into the air, but Jaune wasn't there yet. He was just a little bit off. Looking around, Jaune spotted a huntsman who despite being charged to protect them was running just as hard as anyone else. His pull was strong, not as strong as the strongest, but far stronger than any of the other nearby.

Jaune tried to imagine what it would be like to look through his eyes. The eyes of huntsmen cast into a situation far beyond his depth.

The pounding in Jaune's head grew to very uncomfortable portions as the connection between imagination was even flimsier than before, but Jaune still made it. The scenery was largely the same, but now the huntsman was widely swinging a polearm at a number of grimm. There was no use in running anymore. The way back to Vale had been blocked by several tons of rubble, courtesy of a well-placed explosion.

The huntsman had shallow the bile in his throat as he thought about just who was responsible. What remained of the citizens of Mt. Glenn were trying to dig their way through while he and a handful of huntsmen tried to hold off the horde, but it was a pointless endeavor. They had been sentenced to die.

It was a tragedy and worse a betrayal, but it was all in the past. There was nothing Jaune could do to about it. There were only three things he was thinking about right now: the increasing pain in his head, the overwhelming stench in the air and the overpowering pull nearby.

He craned his head to spot the echo he was surely looking for. With every degree his head turned, the pain grew by a couple notches, but it was worth it when his eyes finally landed on the source of the pull.

It was a painfully average man wearing a white business shirt and grey pants. He was digging as feverishly as the rest, but there was an anger in his posture that wasn't present in the others. His hands were coated red with blood and he seemed to be digging more down than out. Jaune couldn't make out much more than that since this person was only a background element in the huntsmen's memory, but it was enough to make another jump. Should be easy with how strong the pull already was.

 _"Get lost."_

But, of course, nothing could be that easy. While Jaune felt himself being pulled in, paradoxically, he also felt something trying to push him away. Like a kid holding two magnets as close together as he could without letting them touch.

His head felt like it was going to explode, but Jaune kept pushing on.

 _"Get lost!"_

It was so close. He was winning, he could tell. Just a little bit more.

 _"Fuck off!"_

 _My name isn't Jaune Arc. It's…_

"Jaune! Jaune! Wake up! Get up!" Jaune's eyes snapped open as something violently shook his body. He felt lightheaded and the shaking made him want to vomit, so he rolled over and did.

"Jaune, you're awake! Are you alright?" Emerald said, placing and hand on his back and helping him into somewhat of sitting position.

"Why did you wake me?" he rasped feeling like something crawled into his mouth and had gotten stuck in his throat. "Did an hour go by?"

Emerald quickly went to get him a water bottle which he graciously accepted still feeling rather dizzy. "Try more like twenty minutes. Everything was going fine for a while, but then your body suddenly started to convulse and you were bleeding."

"Bleeding?"

"Can't you feel it?" Emerald asked pointing to her nose.

Jaune brought his hand up to his face and when he pulled it away it was stain with blood. It wasn't just coming from his nose either. Blood was also running down the side of his neck from his ears.

Before Jaune could even ask for it, Emerald handed him a cloth. He gladly took it and wiped his face. It appeared the bleeding had stopped but there was still more blood than Jaune was comfortable with.

"Thanks for waking me," he said once he was finished.

"You don't seem very happy about that," Emerald observed.

"It's not that. It's just I was right there. I had caught him. If only I had gotten a little more time."

"So, your plan was a bust?"

"Not quite. I did get one vital piece of information before I was cut off."

"And that was?"

"Jett Flake, the name of that special echo."

* * *

Echoes were beings comprised of a person's last memories and negative emotions, that was how Jaune explained it to him, but clearly there was a misconception. How did one determine when a person was experiencing their last memories? The only way to know for certain was when the person was already dead, and by then it was too late for them to create anything.

Someone could be living through the most traumatic experience of their life and believe with all their heart that it's their final moments only to later wake up, in a hospital, and told they still had a long healthy life ahead of them. That being the case, it was entirely possible for an echo to exist with the owner still being very much alive. Maybe that's what made Jett Flake's echo so special. An experience that cursed his soul so thoroughly it tricked the universe into believing him dead.

That sounded like the makings of a powerful creature if Whitley ever heard one.

Jaune had explained everything to him in their last check-in, making up for the one he missed, and what a story it had been. It was almost a shame that Jaune was planning to destroy these echoes. He would have loved to study them, but he would just have to be content with the task Jaune assigned to him.

A quick search of Mr. Flack's records and the revelation that the man was still alive probably would have been sufficient for what Jaune required, but Whitley was a perfectionist. He wanted to meet with the man himself and get the full story. Luckily, he wasn't hard to find and was surprisingly close by.

The Icebox, Atlas', and the world's, sturdiest maximum security prison. Home to Remnant's most dangerous criminals: rouge huntsmen, crime bosses, serial killers, terrorists. They all found a home in the Icebox since Vale, Mistral, and Vacuo all shipped their worst there, and for whatever reason, Ironwood was all too happy to accept them. At least this time, Ironwood's asinine policy worked to Whitley's benefit.

Normal people weren't allowed visitations, but Whitley wasn't a normal person and with Ironwood and most of the militaries' senior staff procedure was much laxer than normal. This wasn't to say that the Icebox's security was undermined. Whitley still had to undergo a substantial search and was escorted by no less than four guards through the bleak hallways of the facility. Weiss would have had a tantrum over the treatment, but Whitley knew these men were just doing their jobs.

He was eventually led to a man sealed away behind reinforced glass. Jett Flake did not look like a hardened criminal nor like a man who would attempt to bomb the Vale council. He was skinny and old with grey hairs popping out of his nearly bald head. His face was chiseled into an eternal scowl, his eyes glowed with a hateful passion, and Whitley just knew, he'd have an attitude to match.

Still, Whitley picked up the scroll while the man on the other side of the glass did the same. "What does a Schnee want with me?"

Whitley put on his best business smile. "I'm just here for a little research. I want to know what made you angry enough to turn to attempted terrorism."

"Shouldn't you already know. I never hid my reasoning."

 _Probably why you got caught before you could do anything,_ Whitley didn't say. "I did read the statements, but I want to hear it from you."

"And why should I tell you anything, rich boy? What do I get out of it?"

"A chance to vent. I'm sure you're just seething in here with no one to tell your story too. Well, I'm here and I'm listening."

"Get lost," Jett spat back.

"I will if you really want me to, but I guarantee this is your last chance to get your story out there. Pretty much everything about you was scrubbed from the public record since it had to do with Mt. Glenn. Nobody knows anything about you. You don't exist in the outside world, yet here I am, the soon-to-be heir of the SDC, willing to hear you out. Are you really going to pass that up?"

Jett bit his lip with his yellowish teeth, his eyes moving from Whitley to the side of the room like he would find his answer there. "What will you do with it if I tell you?"

"Like I said, I'm only here for research. Who knows what your story will lead to, but I'm sure someone will find it useful."

Jett took a few seconds to think it over, but Whitley already knew he had him. "Fine, I'll tell you. My wife was killed when the grimm invaded and forced the rest of us underground. It was just me and my son after that, and I did everything to get us back into Vale. I filled out forms and wrote letters, but despite us already being goddamn citizens, all my applications were denied if they ever got a response at all. Travel between Mt. Glenn and Vale was for business only, and those bastards on the council made sure that rule was enforced. They trapped us down there just so they wouldn't have to admit their expansion had failed and come up with an actual solution for once in their goddamn lives. All they ever think of is how high their popularity numbers are, and how much food they can shovel into their fat bodies."

"Just stick to the facts, please. I don't come here for your opinions," Whitley said stooping Jett from relaying his entire manifesto.

Jett shot him a glare, but that was it. "When the grimm did break into the underground, it was awful, but it was also the chance I needed. I took my son and we ran. No amount of political games would stop Vale from accepting us after that. The huntsmen that were there and the few that were sent in were quickly overwhelmed and any kind of structured evacuation was shot from the start. The only option was to make a straight shot to Vale using the train tunnel, and my son and I were far ahead of the pack when it came to that."

A stream of tears rolled down Jett's cheeks. "I really thought we were going to make. I believe in the light at the end of the tunnel, but the Vale council had different plans. In order to "protect" the people of Vale they blew the tunnel and caused a cave-in. Unfortunately, it just so happened to occur right on top my son and I. I somehow got out with only a few scratches, but he was buried. I dug and I dug and I dug until my hands bleed, but I didn't find him. The pain I felt—the pain I'm still feeling—was indescribable. I weep and yelled and cried and cursed and screamed. All I wanted was my son back, and if I couldn't have that then I was going to make the bastards that took him from me pay."

"So, what you're saying is that if your son hadn't died you wouldn't have tried to bomb a Vale council meeting. For instance, if you're son had come out of the rubble alive, you would've been ecstatic."

"If this is your idea of a joke, you can stop right now," Jett growled.

"No joke, I'm just asking."

"Of course, I would have been. What parent wouldn't?'"

"Alright, just one last question. How did you survive?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're were trapped in the train tunnel with a wall of dirt on one side and a pack of grimm on the other. How'd you escape when no one else could?"

Jett turned away. "You wouldn't believe me."

"You'd be surprised what I'd believe."

"It was an angel," Jett whispered, his cheeks turning slightly pick.

"Can you describe this angel?"

"I don't really know. It was hazy, looked almost like a person. It came to me just when I accepted the grimm were going to kill me. It reached out its hand and I took it. The next thing I remember is waking up in a grass field above the train tunnel. Once I figured out where I was, I hobbled my way to Vale and prepared my revenge."

"Interesting, so an angle saved you by somehow warping you through at least a hundred feet of rock and dirt, or it could have made you intangible and carried you through, I suppose."

"You think I'm crazy or just dreamed the whole thing, don't you?"

"Of course, you're crazy, only an idiot would try to kill the Vale council, but you can't dream you're way out of a death trap. Although with what's been going on at Mt. Glenn maybe it's not completely impossible," Whitley said more to himself than to Jett.

"Wait, what's going on in Mt. Glenn?"

"Thank you for your story. It was very insightful information. I hope you have a good day Mr. Flake."

"Hang on! I asked you—" Whitley hung up the phone that facilitated their communication and ignored the pounding on the glass. Guards quickly came to collect the enraged man while Whitley was escorted out.

If it hadn't already, Whitley would have warned him that his temper would get him in trouble one day. It wasn't that Whitley was unsympathetic to his story, he had a heart, but everything that had happened was in the past and he had his sights on the future. If nothing else, Jett had given him some new ideas to experiment with, but before that he needed to report back to Jaune. He definitely needed to hear about this.

It had been a worthwhile trip.

* * *

They had everything they needed. With the information Whitley obtained, they knew who the special echo was and exactly what Emerald needed to show him. All that was left to do was put it in motion. They just had to get Emerald to Jett Flack's echo, and even though they couldn't see it, it was clear where it be.

Jaune gazed at the train tunnel that he and Emerald had tried to enter yesterday. He had already suspected it, but Whitley's information confirmed it. Jett's echo was guarding the train tunnel, and it was easy to figure out why. It didn't want anyone messing with Flake's son's burial site. Which meant that if they got there not only would Jett's echo be guaranteed to be there, but they would be in the perfect place for Emerald to weave her illusion.

The only hurdle left was getting through the train tunnel without being put to sleep. There was no surefire way to prevent that, but Jaune had a working theory and knowing that it could happen was half the battle. As long as the two of them kept up their awareness they should be fine.

"Are we ready to set off or are you waiting for something to go wrong?" Emerald asked, for her spot on the train they had just finished building.

Alright, calling it a train was like calling a paper airplane an airship. Really all they had made was a self-propelling handcar. Jaune didn't have vast technical knowledge, but even he, with generous help from Emerald, could make a platform with four wheels and slap on a motor to make it move. The parts were easy to find since they had the train station, and their supplies already contained spare dust crystals to power it. In addition, their little creation was outfitted with some small floodlights, which were abundant in an underground city, and an etch to provide them with some extra defense against Jett's echo.

This etch was the exact opposite of the one he used to snag the echoes, pushing mind away instead of pulling it in. Sadly, it wasn't nearly as effective as the other one since the little amount of sleep he had gotten last night had still been plagued by echo induced nightmares, even after he had come up with the idea. Jaune suspected the difference was because in the original experiment the echoes already wanted to get into his head while they would activity fight against the effects of this etch. Still, any amount of protection was helpful.

"You're spacing out again," Emerald called.

"Sorry, I'll be right there." There really wasn't any more reason to delay. Jaune walked towards their vehicle, but was suddenly hit by a dizzy spell. His hand jumped to his forehead and he stumbled around a bit before catching himself.

"Are you okay," Emerald said about ready to hop off the cart to join him.

He held out a hand to stop her. "I'm fine," he replied even as he noticed a couple of droplets of blood leak from his nose to the ground.

This had happened on and off ever since he delved into his mind. The episodes never lasted more than a few seconds, but they weren't lowering in intensity or frequency which concerned him.

Not wanting to give Emerald anything to worry about, though, he quickly boarded their makeshift vehicle, took a seat across from his partner, and started the motor. It hissed like a dying cat as it was put to work for the first time in decades, but slowly the wheels did turn and move them forward.

The wheeled platform clunked into the train tunnel as the two of them waited in silence, taking a quick glance of their surroundings now that they were illuminated by the floodlights. "Looks like we made it in," Jaune said.

"You don't know. You might already be caught in a dream, talking to a fake Emerald."

Jaune held out his hand and his journal appeared in it like normal. "I think I do know," he said.

"Show off," Emerald huffed.

The cart drifted along at a steady pace. In all honesty, it would have been faster if they ran, but there were several reasons that Jaune had insisted they travel this way. For one, by following the tracks, and with all their lights, there was no way they could get lost. Second, they could always be looking at each other this way. The reason they had both been caught last time was because they hadn't been focused on each other, or so Jaune believed. Regardless, it didn't seem likely that Jett's echo could have knocked them both out at the exact same time. If they kept their eyes on each other the entire time, then the moment one of them drifted off the other could quickly wake them up, and start a game of keep away.

Even if that didn't work, and they both got caught again, the fact they were on a cart would mean they'd still be moving forward. They were going slow enough to where they wouldn't end up as bloody smears if they crashed into rock blockade while they were unconscious. Then it was only a matter of Emerald breaking free with her semblance and already being in the position to erase the echoes for good.

Jaune thought it was a pretty solid plan.

The only problem would be running into grimm, but that was a risk no matter what they did and there wasn't a good way to avoid it. Luckily, there hadn't been any in the tunnel so far which was odd considering the tunnel should have been the most despair inducing place in all of Mt. Glenn.

The lack of grimm wasn't the only thing that was missing either, and from the way Emerald was shifting, she had noticed it too. "I don't feel anything," she said.

"We didn't feel anything when we were first knocked out either," Jaune reminded her.

"But even back things had felt off, and have you noticed, the smell isn't as potent."

Jaune had noticed, but it hadn't really been something he thought to bring up. It wasn't like they could do anything about it. "Maybe my etch is working better than I thought."

"What if it's planning something, waiting for us to get far enough into where we can't turn around?"

"What could it be planning. The only option it has is to try and invaded our brains. If it can't do that, it's completely helpless."

"I guess I'm just finding it hard to believe that it will be over soon."

"You make it sound like we've been here for years instead of two and a half days," Jaune teased.

"It feels like we have," Emerald replied.

They returned to their relative quiet doing nothing but thinking to pass the time. No grimm and no attempts of mind invasion. It wasn't until an hour into that journey that they spotted something. A skeleton laying on the tracks.

"Should we move it?" Emerald asked.

As much as Jaune would like to, it probably wasn't a good idea. It would require at least one of them to hop off which It would give Jett's echo the perfect opportunity to attack if it really was waiting in the tunnel.

Jaune just whispered an apology that doubled as a pray as they cart rolled over the corpse, crushing brittle bones under its wheel. It wasn't to be the last corpse they saw, the farther they went the more corpses there were. They rode over at least two more bodies of the deceased, each given way in their own distinctive crunch. The only good news was that the uptick in bodies probably meant they were close to the end of the line.

Sure enough, it came not ten minutes later. A solid wall of rocks and dirt. It looked unchanged from when Jaune had seen it years prior. The only difference was the lack of grimm and the lack of people.

He cut the motor and the cart slowly drifted to a stop, the one sound in the entire tunnel coming to an end. They just sat there for a bit, neither one of them wanting to disembark. "What should we do?" Emerald asked.

Jaune sighed, and took the first steps off their cart. Away from the etch and away from their connected sight.

Still nothing.

His journal appeared in his hand and disappeared the same as always. "I don't know," he finally admitted. The whole plan had relied on Jett's echo being here if it wasn't then there wasn't any point. They may as well have ridden the world's lamest amusement park ride for all it mattered.

"Maybe we should start poking that wall of rumble," Emerald suggested, jumping off the cart to be beside him. "If we really start messing with the son's burial site, then I'm sure the echo couldn't ignore it."

"Might as well give it a shot."

But, they didn't make it more than a few steps before the entire atmosphere changed. The tunnel seemed to grow colder and narrower, the smell was back to full force and the words "get lost" cut through the air.

Jaune and Emerald twisted around, more on instinct than anything else, and saw a plume of dark smoke that had the faint shape of a person. Jaune tried to summon his journal and Emerald tried to use her semblance to disturb the world only for Jaune's journal to come to him without problems and Emerald's semblance finding nothing to disrupt.

There was only one conclusion.

"We aren't caught in a dream!" Emerald yelled.

"I realize that," Jaune shouted back.

The metal rail of the train track groaned before it decoupled itself and shot its way towards them. Jaune barely had time to bring his shield up before the steel snake crashed into him. Emerald was forced to dodge away as another one rushed forward.

"What happened to echoes being completely harmless in the physical word!"

"That was before I knew Jett's was part poltergeist!"

The rail Jaune was blocking coil back before going in for another strike. This time the impact pushed him back as he felt his bones rattle. Still, he stayed on his feet and swung his sword in a counter attack.

The results weren't as he hoped. His sword bounced off without leaving a scratch. He tried to reposition himself, but a third rail join its brother, and this time Jaune was sent flying. His back hit the wall of rumble, causing a portion of it to fall away.

Emerald wasn't doing much better on her end. While she was agile enough to evade her own set of twisting snakes, her weapons were doing just as much as Jaune's had been. That was to say they weren't doing anything. At one point, she tried shooting a few rounds at Jett's echo, but that ended as expected by just going right through it.

"Use your semblance on it!" Jaune shouted as he ducked under a strike that tried to crave his head in.

"I need time to concentrate for that which I can't really do right now!" Emerald jumped onto one of the rails, almost riding it, but she was forced off when the other ran itself along the edge of the one she was on.

"Get lost!" the cavern seemed to say.

"We're trying to help you, damn it!" Jaune blocked and diverted snake only to get grazed by the other. His aura protected him, but it tripped him up enough to where he couldn't avoid the twisted snake's return trip. His shieldless side had to take the brunt of the impact as he was knocked back once again.

This was bad. Neither of them could hope to cut through solid steel with their weapons alone, and the ringmaster was completely immune. Emerald needed time to weave her semblance, but in order to get that time they needed to put a halt to the rampaging snakes for a bit. Which they could only do if they stopped Jett's echo with Emerald's semblance. Basically, they were trapped.

Frantically, he looked around for anything he could use until his eyes landed on the cart they rode in one. He sprinted towards it, barely sidestepping a possessed rail as it shot down from above. The cart wasn't that heavy, so when Jaune got close, a solid kick was enough to send it rolling down towards the echo.

It was slight but Jett's echo did react to the etch marked into the cart. The smoke bent back like it was been blown by the wind, and for just a moment, the rail snakes froze. "Emerald, now!"

"On it."

Emerald stopped to concentrate, but Jett's echo recovered far too quickly by simply moving back a few feet. His increased distance didn't hamper his control of the snakes in the slightest though. They struck with just as much ferocity as before, forcing Emerald to drop her semblance.

Jaune ran forward to give the cart another shove, but as he did, he was hit by another dizzy spell. "No, not now," he muttered. The two snakes, closing in on him, grew into a blurry four. With his head pounding and his senses of balance completely off, Jaune could only throw himself to the left and hope for the best.

The best did not happen. The rail smashed straight into his chest, carrying him into the air. Even through his aura it felt like his ribcage was going cave. Damn Whitley for making him give up his breastplate in the name of fashion.

Jaune slid off the tip of the rail before it could squash him against the ceiling, but doing that left him stranded in the air. There was nothing he could do as the other snake came around and swatted him.

This time he didn't just hit the wall of rubble, he was sent a good foot into it. He grabbed onto every rock he could to dig himself out, knowing that another steel beam strike was just around the corner. He didn't know how low his aura was but he knew couldn't take much more of those attacks.

It took him maybe fifteen seconds to emerge, but that felt way too long. He should have been clobbered in that amount of time. A painful grunt alerted him to why he wasn't. Jett's echo had apparently decided to divert the two snakes attacking him in Emerald direction giving her a total of four to deal with. It was a battle she was quickly losing.

He had to do something, but what? He probably had time to make an etch now, but he couldn't think of one that could put a stop to those steel monstrosities. No way would a standard sized fire etch be hot to melt them. Vines or ice wasn't going to be enough to hold them. Could he cause them to rust somehow?

Emerald avoid one snake, hopped over another, but took the third in the back. Her aura flared and she was sent to her knees, and Jett's echo wasn't going to give her a chance to get back up. The other three snakes closed in like a bird's talons.

Emerald wasn't going to be able to avoid that, Jaune realized. Terror seized him as his grip tightened on a rock he had forgotten he was holding. In a moment of desperation, he threw at Jett's echo.

It was only when it was sailing through the air that he saw it wasn't a rock at all but a human skull. His mind working overtime, Jaune shouted the only thing he thought might get the echoes attention, "Hey Jett, here's your son back!"

The smoke swayed a bit in motion that may have been turning, but the way all four of the snakes snapped forward to catch the skull made it clear that it had an effect. Jaune had no idea if that was really Jett's son's skull, but griped in parental panic, Jett's echo didn't question it, nor did it think about how four steel rails would probably be a worse cushion than just letting the skull hit the ground.

"Emerald, get started on the illusion again!"

"I'm not going to have enough time," she said getting back to her feet.

"I'll make time!"

"How!"

"Just do it."

Jaune didn't take the time to see what his partner was doing. His only thought was making it to the train cart as fast as possible. The whoosh of air behind him let him know that at least one of the snakes was back in pursuit. He was so close, it was only a couple feet away.

Pleases let this work. If he was wrong then it was over. He and Emerald would be buried down her like the rest of them.

The screech of metal bending in a way it wasn't supposed to condemn him to being a couple feet too far away. He wasn't going to make it, but maybe he didn't need to. Diving to the ground, the charging snake flew over and passed him crashing into their flimsy train cart, splitting it into pieces.

The only sources of light flickered out and the craven was cast into darkness.

* * *

Jett Flake could not see. The two that had dared to disturb his son's resting place were lost to him. He could still feel his guardians but he no longer knew where to send them.

Wait, now there was a light. It burst forth and he was back on that fateful day. He knew clawing at the rumble wouldn't bring his son back, but he did it anyway. Why wouldn't he? It might be futile but he was already dead, so he dug away.

He dug and he dug knowing he wouldn't find anything, but…but this time he.

A dirty little arm poked through the ground. Jett grasped onto it with all his might and pull up a dirt cover boy. He coughed and wheezed as he expelled debris from his throat and mouth.

"Dad?" He whispered. He was weak and hurt but he was alive. Jett hadn't failed. He clutched his son to his chest, and for the first time since his wife died, he cried.

"I'm right here. You're free now."

* * *

"Did it work?"

"I think so. The smell is gone and there are no train rails trying to kill us."

"Are you sure?"

"No, I'm not sure! I can't see anything. If someone didn't knock out the lights maybe I could—owwwww! I just smashed my foot into something! Would you hurry it up?"

"I'm working in it. I can't see anything either. Oh wait, I think I found it." The flashlight in Jaune's hand clicked to life. Nowhere near as bright as their cart setup, but at least they could see. The train rails that had been attacking them were now stuck in place like an abstract art sculpture, and there was no sign of the smoky being. "I think we really did it."

Emerald walked up and collapsed to her knees letting out a heavy sigh. "Thank Oum, I can't wait to get out of here. I'm ready for that break you were talking about. I think about two years will be enough time for me to recover."

"We'll see," Jaune laughed, reaching out his hand to help Emerald up. "Let's go home."

* * *

Excerpt from the book (Jaune's notes)

 _If the anomalies surrounding the echoes at Mt. Glenn proved one thing, it is that echoes are not made up of only negative emotions and last memories. They also have desires. Desires to escapes their current situation. I suspect the echoes at Mt. Glenn had been waiting for someone to free them. It's why they somehow recorded the arrival and departure of every living visitor in an old train terminal. Echoes aren't evil nor do most of them want to cause any harm. They just seek to protect what's theirs, like any human of faunus would, whether that be their memories or a son they failed to save._

 _As for the specifics on how the Mt. Glenn echoes gained their unusual powers, it was probably a combination of their sheer number and the unrelenting will of Jett Flake. Echoes formed of the still living probably aren't actually that uncommon. It is simply that no caretaker as even bothered to look into that detail. Normally there is no need to delve into the echo's history and give them closer to dispel them, and in a way, that's kind of sad._

 _Echoes form a collective mind, so to speak, so it wouldn't be surprising that the first generation of Mt. Glenn echoes, created when the main city fell, passed on the knowledge of their unceremonious existence to the ones created when the underground city collapsed. It was that unwillingness to flicker out that led them to be capable of doing something about it. In Jett Flake's case that evolved into the power affect the physical world when the mental word failed to stop us._

* * *

 **An: This chapter was so hard to write. Going into the mental world was a lot more complicated than it was in my head. I was constantly worried that I was just vomiting words onto the page. At least it's finally over and so is this arc, and I have to say, despite all the trouble I had, I think this might be the best conclusion of an arc yet. I'll let the reviews inform if I'm right or not.**

 **Next chapter is going to be a special one, so get excited for that. I know I am.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Beta** : ShadowMester234

"Now, the moment you've all be waiting for, introducing Blooming Rose!" Ruby struck a pose while her partner held out his new weapon.

"Wow, you made a stick. I'm sure the grimm will quake in fear thanks to such advantage technology," Russel piped in.

Nearly everyone at the BRYL/RSTT lunch table burst out laughing.

"It is not a stick!" Ruby vehemently denied, failing her arms up and down. "It's a collapsible staff."

"So, a slightly bigger sick?" Yang said. Another round of laughter moreover how flustered Ruby was getting than the actual joke.

"Fine," Rube huffed, crossing her arms in an attempt to look stern. "I guess you don't have to know what it does."

"Works for me," Russel said, resuming his meal. Everyone else was soon to follow. Even Sulfur took a seat.

Now, not being interested in a weapon was sacrilege to Ruby, so it didn't take long before she cracked. "Alight, I'll tell you. Sulfur put Blooming Rose on the table and I'll explain." Sulfur did as he was told with a smile that Yang recognized as the exact same one her dad would give her and Ruby when they begged for extra sweets after dinner.

The weapon he and Ruby had crafted was a completely grey staff, about four feet tall, with a sharp point at the bottom and a rosebud at the top. It was also divided into three sections, each one smaller than the last, so its length could easily be shorted. That's was all Yang could get from looking at it, but knowing Ruby it could probably turn into a tank if it needed to.

"So, if you push right here, the bottom will pop open where there's a chamber that can fire dust bombs. Then if you tap here the rose as the top will bloom, hence the name, it's serrated on the edges and will start spinning like a saw blade cutting through any grimm like mincemeat." Ruby said, giving her version of a maniacal laugh and catching the attention of some the nearby tables.

When she was finished, she watched the table probably looking for some praise. All she got were blank looks. "Is that all?" Sky dared to say.

"What! Are you saying it's not cool?"

"No, I'm not saying that. It just seems a little simple especially coming from you."

"See Sulfur, I knew it. We should have made it much more complicated. It would've been so cool. I could have made it shoot flying saw blades or break into two different weapons, but you kept turning me down. At least let me turn it into a gun."

"I already have two guns," Sulfur replied, "and I told you I would prefer a simpler weapon. I wouldn't have a clue how to handle anything as crazy as Crescent Rose and I don't want to worry about having to perform constant maintenance."

"What are you saying? Your weapon is your child. Maintenance isn't a chore it's reaffirming your bond, and my baby deserves the best care I can give it."

"Doesn't just deserve it, your weapon _needs_ it. How many times do you take it to the workshop? Three times a week? And that's when it's only brought out in Miss Goodwitch's class. What are you going to do when you're out on a mission, away from the fancy tools and advanced machines, battling the element alongside the grimm. Crescent Rose isn't going to last. If you insist on using it you're going to be confined to the city. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I thought you wanted to be a hero, facing the grimm head on, and saving people who don't already have a fortified city protecting them."

"I do," Ruby whispered.

"Then you probably need to put in a bit more thought on how you're going to do that."

Ruby drop into her seat at the now silent table, and only poked at her food with a somber expression. Yang would have punched him right then and there if they hadn't already gone through this situation a couple of times now. Sulfur was nice enough normally, but when it came to being a huntsmen's he was a cold pessimist and more than a little strange on top of that. Maybe it could be forgiven since he came from a small frontier town that none of them had heard of. He probably knew what he was talking in this regard, and unfortunately, it was something Ruby probably needed to hear. She had never been far away from a weapons workshop with Signal on patch and Beacon now. She probably hadn't ever considered what would happen when she didn't have access to them.

Yang loved her sister, but she did have to admit, Ruby had a tendency to let her head float in the clouds. If her prized baby ever malfunctioned on a mission she would be in serious trouble since she couldn't use unarmed combat to save her life, literally in this case. Yang just wished Ruby's partner could be a little kinder with his words.

Still, this wasn't the first time he had dropped some harsh wisdom onto Ruby, so Yang knew she would bounce back soon enough. Ruby just had to think things over for a little bit.

"So, the school dance is coming up, who's excited for that," Yang said in an effort to lighten the mood.

No one voiced their excitement.

"Oh, come on. Don't any of you have someone special you're looking to take." Yang turned to her partner who had been too silent for Yang's liking. "What about you Blakey? Planning on making the dreams of that blond boy, who's been hitting on you since he got here, come true?"

"You mean Sun?" Blake said, mostly because she knew what would happen if she didn't.

"On a first name basis with him already? You've been talking to him."

"I don't think learning someone's name qualifies as a romantic interest."

"Hey, you've got to start somewhere," Yang hit back.

"If that's you're starting point then I think everyone at this table needs to be on guard," Blake replied, actually making a joke. Yang was so proud, but it was time to give the rest of her team the attention they deserved.

"Russ, what are your plans?"

"Don't have any. I'm not going to the dance."

"No, that's not going to work. Blake and I volunteered—"

"I did not volunteer. I was dragged into to it," Blake amended.

"—since CFVY got dragged off on a mission., so I expect all of you to be there to appreciate our hard work. That means you too, Ruby."

"But Yangggg—"

"No buts!"

"Then I guess I'm going to have to ask someone," Sky said, a piece of bacon hanging from his mouth. "Maybe that transfer student, Cinder, she's pretty hot."

"Speak of the devil and she will appear," Sulfur said, smiling as the woman in question walked by.

She hadn't seemed to have heard Sky's comment, and since his face was now buried in his breakfast that was probably a good thing, but that didn't stop her and Sulfur from locking eyes. They didn't say anything then and Cinder even seemed a little surprised she was doing it.

Finally, Sulfur broke the silence with a light chuckle. "How are you doing today?"

"Fine, thank you," Cinder said rather awkwardly and then immediately walked off.  
"Do you two know each other?" Ruby asked.

"No, that was the first time I've seen her. It was just that I felt a connection with her." He put his hand to his chest. "Maybe it's love at first sight. Sorry Sky, I think I'm going to have to take your girl. Is that okay with you?"

"It's fine," he muttered, face still flush.

Everyone laughed, the odd scene completely forgotten.

* * *

Cinder Fall supposed it could have gone worse. It should've gone better, but in the end, Ruby, or Red as Roman like to call her, was nothing more than an annoyance. An annoyance Roman really should have killed, but that fool couldn't do anything right.

Cinder tore off her mask, "changed" into her dress and entered the dance hall. She eyes scanned for Mercury, but before she could find him a different person grabbed her wrist and pulled her into a dance. She was a second away from eviscerating the person who dared touch her without her permission, but then she saw who it was. It was Red's strange partner.

After the incident, in the cafeteria, a week ago, she had made sure to look into him. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to look into. He was a nobody whose only records came from a small town that had been destroyed recently under _unusual_ circumstance. It was the perfect place to implant some fake history, but even if it really was his hometown, it didn't make him any less mysterious.

Mysteries were a bad thing in her line of work, and she had considered removing him entirely, but killing one of Ozpin's students right under his nose was too much a risk. Better to just wait this man out and see if he was actually a threat to her plan.

"You're watching me rather intensely. Am I that desirable to you?"

He didn't know how to dance, Cinder realized after coming out of her thoughts. He was just awkwardly shuffling her around. Taking advantage of that she suddenly pulled some fancy footwork. His legs became tangled and he crashed to the floor, drawing the attention of some nearby onlookers. It was more gratifying than she was willing to admit, and yet it hadn't looked quite right. Not that he hadn't fallen because he clearly had, but his expression hadn't changed to surprise or embarrassment. He'd even gasped for air on the way down, and yet the condescending look never left him. It was like it was painted on his face. Was it even possible to keep a calm expression when one's equilibrium was so completely destroyed?

"I probably deserved that," the teen laughed, getting up from the floor and dusting off his rental suit. "Perhaps a more courteous approach is needed."

Cinder spotted Mercury a couple people down just as Sulfur extended his hand. Cinder accepted the offer, knowing this would be her best chance to pry some information out of him. Mercury was shooed away with her eyes, letting me know he was free to do as he pleased. Likely to go back to their room to play video games or some other nonsenses.

"You shouldn't dismiss your friend like that so easily. Might break the poor guy's heart," Sulfur said showing that he noticed her little signal.

Cinder led him into a nice easy rhythm that even a child could follow. There would be no stepping on toes tonight, and if he somehow did, she would boil him alive right here. "If you recall, you were the one to force yourself on me. You need to be more respectful of the people around you."

"You know, my partner tells me the exact same thing."

"Speaking of partners, where is she? You should be accompanying her as a friend if nothing else."

"I was but she disappeared a little bit ago. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"I'm afraid I wouldn't, why do you ask?"

"It's just you weren't present until a few minutes ago, and when you did arrive you came through the back entrance just a few moments before two Atlas soldiers did. Also, General Ironwood and about half the teachers suddenly decided to leave like there was some sort of problem."

Cinder narrowed her eyes. This man was observant, absurdly so, and he was making a show out of it. Who was he? One of Ozpin's spies. No, he wouldn't be so open if that were it. Perhaps he worked for some third party. She'd have to ask Roman if there was any criminal organization that could possibly have an interest in Beacon.

"Are you suggesting I was causing some sort of trouble?" She asked sweetly.

"I don't need to suggest anything. I know you were."

"Is that so. Do you have any evidence to back up your assertion?"

"No, nothing like that. I don't really know all that much despite what it might seem. It's just that to get ahead in life all you really need is confidence."

"You certainly have plenty of that." Far too much, Cinder believed. If he really didn't have any solid evidence of her misdeeds, confronting her was reckless at best and deadly at worst. She was still deciding which way it would go for him.

Was he lying about what he knew, and if so how much did he really know? Surely, nothing about the maidens, but it was possible he knew her involvement with the dust heists happening all over Vale. Operations like that were massive ventures, and although she tried to keep her affliction as quiet as possible by filtering everything through Roman and using the White Fang whenever possible, leaks still happened.

She needed to dig into him a little more. Find out what his plans were and why he wanted this conversation in the first place. "Why did you decided to come to Beacon?"

"You know I feel like I'm the only one that's been grilled," her dance partner said looking at the ground like he was disappointed in her. "I think I would like to ask the same question. Why did you come to Beacon?"

"I came to be a huntress just like everyone else."

"Liiiarr," Sulfur said, dragging out the syllables.

"You can tell?" Cinder asked not surprised he saw through it, obvious as it was.

"I'm not so clever that I'm capable of acting as a lie detector, but I do have a talent for spotting fakes. You might act like a student, but it's clear to me that you're nothing of the sort. That cover might be good enough to fool everyone else, but let's just say, I have a lot of experience seeing through that stuff, practically my only pastime growing up. It's not like knowing that gives me any knowledge about who you really are, though, hence the question."

What an arrogant guy. His action, words, and even his expression were all in conflict with each other. The way he presented all these skills only to walk them back like they were nothing was infuriating. It reminded her of the way Watts always talked like he was the smartest man in existence only to end with a line like "but there is a lack of hard data" or "however this is only me theorizing" just to cover his ass in case he was wrong. Anything that reminded her of that bastard was something to be destroyed.

Heat built up in her hands, where she was grasping her dance partner, and the distress on his features made her feel a little better. Proved he really was just a human and not some mannequin come to life.

"Fine, if you must know I'm here to retrieve something that was stolen from me." She searched his eyes for any sort of recognition but found none even if he'd be fully capable of hiding it.

"Ah, an answer to my question that tells me nothing. Whatever, I'll accept it."

"So why are you here?" Cinder asked again.

"There's no particular reason. I only enrolled because I thought interesting things would occur here. Sadly, nothing much has happened yet. I know the seeds are already planted, but it seems they just don't want to sprout. It's honestly a little disappointing."

"You're only here because you were bored!" Cinder hissed. She summoned her semblance again, but this time Sulfur took a step back, disconnecting them and ending their dance.

"You make it sound so simple, but if you saw what I did, I don't think you could ignore it either. All I want is for exciting things to take place, and if they refuse to happen on their own, then I'll manufacture them myself." That last line was left hanging in the air, not as a threat or even a warning. He framed like it was just some homework he was oddly enthusiastic about doing.

"Thank you for the dance," Sulfur said after the silence settled, "I appreciate it." Then, he was off, walking into the crowd not caring who he bumped into or who bumped into him. He ultimately found a seat along the wall and took it.

He wouldn't get up from it until the dance concluded.

Cinder used that time to recollect herself. It hadn't gone perfectly, nothing on this night had, but she had gotten enough of a feel for Sulfur to be satisfied. He was an enigma to be sure but not someone incomprehensible. Basically, he was just a nutcase like Tyrian although with far better control over himself. In that way, he was closer to Adam; a man with intelligence aimed at a worthless obsession.

Normally he might have posed a danger to her, but fate was kind to her, and she already had experience in dealing with his type. She only had to play towards his desires, and he'd be easy to manipulate. If he wanted to create a stimulating event, then maybe she could help him. Team missions were just around the corner, after all.

* * *

Team RSTT was suddenly given a new member when Yang brought over a package sent from her and Ruby's father. What popped out was not the normal care package of food and treats. No, it was a small corgi and an absurd amount of dog food.

Ruby had immediately screamed Zwei's name and pick him up so he could lick the bottom of her chin. Her partner, however, was more focused on the cylindrical package he came in, examining it from every angle. Yang didn't blame him. She didn't know how her dad did it either.

"Oh, Zwei I'm so happy to see you," Ruby baby-talked. "We're going to have so much fun."

"Why did your dad send him?" Sulfur asked Yang, having given up on the dimensional breaking package.

"He has to go off on a mission, so he needed someone to watch Zwei," Yang explained, happily watching Ruby, adorably, give Zwei a tummy rub.

"He does know that we'll be on our own missions soon, right? Besides does Beacon even allow pets?"

"They have to!" Ruby exclaimed. "They would be worse than grimm if they forced poor Zwei out. Just look how cute he is." She practically shoved him into Sulfurs face, but before Sulfur could comment on his cuteness, Zwei began to growl and even bark at him, swinging his little legs in an effort to break free from Ruby's grasp.

"Bad Zwei," Ruby gasped, pulling him back. "That's my partner. Don't be mean." Zwei stopped barking but continued to fix Sulfur with a low growl.

"Speaking of missions," Yang said, trying to alleviate Ruby's embarrassment, "what one did your team choose?"

"It's a search and destroy mission in quadrant five," Ruby said. "A really nice transfer student from Haven helped us pick it out. She said it would be a good mission for first years to take on."

"That's nice, we got stuck with a protection job guarding a convey of dust shipments. Real exciting stuff, but Blake was really insistent for some reason."

"I'm sure it will be fine."

"Only if you consider dying from boredom a good way to go. That being said I expect you to be careful out there. Don't do anything crazy."

"I'm not a child. I know what I'm doing." Ruby huffed.

"You got into a fight with an intruder last night when you were supposed to be enjoying the dance."

"For the record. General Ironwood told me that I made the right decision." Yang tilted her head showing just how much she cared for General Ironwood's opinion. "Okay, so maybe it was a little hasty, but that was different. This is just grimm hunting, something we've been doing since Signal. I know what to expect."

"In signal, we dealt with small packs under strict supervision. This is much bigger."

"We're still going to have a professional huntsman guiding us. It will be fine."

"Just promise me you'll be careful."

"I promise."

That was all Yang wanted. "Alright then, have fun on your mission, but if things get dangerous, make sure to run away and get help."

"I already said I would." Ruby shouted, "Geez, you really need to stop worrying about me. Nothing is going to go wrong, right Sulfur?"

Her partner shrugged. "I'm sure it will all work out."

* * *

And it certainly had although that was dependent on your perspective. Sulfur imagined that his team weren't as thrilled with these turns of events. Too bad for them.

Approaching that woman, who was clearly up to no good, had been a good idea. He would have to thank her for pushing them here. He wasn't exactly sure why'd she'd done it. Maybe it was because she knew that since a team was going to be assigned this mission regardless, it might as well be the inexperienced team RSTT. Maybe she thought he'd keep the team from interfering or maybe she expected him to die.

In the end, it didn't really matter what Cinder's motives were. Sulfur just knew that this was what life was meant to be: wind in his face, explosions and grimm in the distance, a speeding train below him and stakes that affected everyone in Vale.

But, backing up a bit, he'd known this mission was going to be deeper than it seemed the second they stepped on the bullhead. Dr. Oobleck had seemed surprised to see them, but just like with most things with that man, he quickly accepted their presence before moving on.

They arrived at Mt. Glenn, Oobleck giving them history lesson along the way, and killed some grimm. He tried to please Ruby by using his new weapon, but neither him or the weapon were the right fit for fighting grimm directly. Instead, he held off, offering support and shooting at grimm that got a little too close.

Then Oobleck found out that Ruby had brought the mutt along and gave her praise for her "genius" thinking for some reason. After that, they split up for a bit which he was happy for, but before he could explore the good doctor ambushed him and questioned him on why he became a huntsman.

Sulfur provided the same answer he gave Cinder just much more toned down. Oobleck was clearly dissatisfied and said something along the lines of "the duty of a huntsman shouldn't be taken on by someone with only a passing interest."

Sulfur couldn't agree more. Pursuits should be given 100% investment, anything less made you inconsequential trash, but the "huntsmen's duty" wasn't something he was striving for. It was just that all the necessary components for being a huntsman and his ideal were the same.

Later, when the sun was close to setting, they set up camp. Ruby offered to take first watch and no one challenged her for it. He only pretended to go to sleep, so he saw the moment Ruby left to follow her dog. Of course, he followed knowing that devils played in the darkness and not wanting to miss a single one.

Turns out the dog had only need to relieve itself, but it was okay since it led to the discovery of the White Fang's presence which led to Ruby following which eventually led to her falling after the road collapsed beneath her. Someone also must have cursed his partner or something because she lost her weapon in the process.

Sulfur went to go check the newly formed hole when the dog was thrown back out. Obviously, the dog immediately recognized his presence and returned to snarling at. "Sorry buddy, I tried my best to save her."

The dog wasn't buying it, as weird as that was to say, and looked absolutely murderous. Sulfur's hand dropped to his rugged revolver while Zwei bared his teeth ready to tear into his flesh.

Ruby's voice mixed in with someone's else stopped them. "See, she's still alive." A girly grunt and very fleshly sounding crack soon followed. "Maybe not for much longer though."

The dog was apparently reasonable enough to recognize that fighting here would be pointless and instead ran off likely to the wake the rest of the team and Dr. Oobleck. Sulfur for his part continued on and looked down the hole his partner fell down.

It was shocking to see an entire city below the surface and even more so to see the brief flashes of activity. The White Fang had certainly made a home down there, and poor Ruby had fallen straight in.

Sulfur backed away to a safe distance, his lips parted and eyes shining. Things were set to escalate at this rate, and conflict was all but assured, yet things could be better. Both sides would be given the chase to prepare and treat the situation with caution, but the best action happened in the spur of the moment. It was the difference between a controlled fire and a blazing explosion. Both were fun to look at, but one was clearly better. All it needed was a sudden spark.

Sulfur pointed the weapon his partner made for him in the air, upside down. The bottom popped open and a dust bomb was shot into the air. It was much more than a flare. When it exploded, it was better equated to a firework, and it alerted everyone: the White Fang, Dr. Oobleck, the back half of team RSTT, and; of course, the grimm.

He quickly made his way down into the underground just in time to witness the chaos taking place between the White Fang and the sudden invasion of grimm. Guns were fired, swords were swung, and faunus were torn to pieces. It was a gory mess.

Eventually, the remainder of the Beacon's search-and-destroy team joined the fray. They tried to be noble, focusing on the grimm and helping the White Fang where they could, but the kindness was not returned as the White Fang did their best to sabotage the grimm extermination effort by way of gunfire.

Sulfur would have loved to stay and watch, but there was a lot more he could be doing especially when he spotted a train that seemed oh so very important. He hopped on, ignoring the calls of his team looking for him a Ruby.

Unfortunately, the commotion outside didn't stop a White Fang member from notice the uninvited passenger. He was quick to pepper Sulfur with rife fire, who didn't have much choice but to take it all on his aura. He probably lost a majority of it before his foe ran out of ammo.

The masked assailant seemed to panic when Sulfur didn't go down after an entire clip and stumbled through the reload process. Sulfur took that time to pulled his cheaply manufactured pistol, that Ruby had once called a soulless weapon, and fired. The bullet only grazed the faunus, but the second and third hit center mass punching through his skin and muscles. The man collapsed but was still breathing, so Sulfur walked up and put a round in the back of his head.

It was a good thing the faunus didn't have aura, and was more likely than not just a barely trained civilian tired of being discriminated against, or things might not have ended in his favor. Beacon had made him better but not that much better. Even now he was hunched over gasping for air. None of the bullets had gotten passed his aura but he still felt the impact of each and every one. He'd be lucky if his entire chest and stomach weren't black and blue after that abuse.

While he was catching his breath, the train began to move, and the radio attached to the hip of the man he'd just killed sputtered to life. "I think they're on the—" Then it cut out.

Sulfur was glad his team had made it onboard, or at least some of them. It would be a detriment if they couldn't see the whole thing through. On the other hand, the show wasn't quite done. He still didn't what this train was supposed to do.

Well, clearly it was transporting something to Vale, but what exactly?

He needed to know if he had to tweak anything. Triggering the start so abruptly had been good, but it wouldn't matter if the ending wasn't satisfying. Maybe it would be fine if he didn't intervene, but he didn't what to risk the final act flatlining. Nothing was worse than a boring conclusion to a fascinating premise.

While he was contemplating his plan of attack, an explosion rocked the train car causing him to stumble into a wall. Just what the hell could that be about? Honestly, it was getting a little frustrating just how far the situation was getting from him, but things only got worse when he heard what sounded like shattering glass behind him.

There should have been no reason for it, but a chill crept down his spine and his blood ran cold. In the time it took one to blink, everything had changed. Sulfur imagined it must be similar to how a rabbit felt when it discovered it had been eyed by a hawk. He didn't like that feeling, so he crushed it, salvaging his slipping expression.

He pushed off the wall, his hand no longer shaking, and turned around with a nice lackadaisical smile. The predator was a small tri-colored. She would have been cute if it were any other situation.

"Can I help you?"

Faster than he could see the girl cartwheeled over him, swept his legs from under him, batted his head with her umbrella, pinned him to the ground, and held a sword that she had pulled from her umbrella to his throat.

Sulfur held up his hand his surrender. "Any chance I can convince you not to kill me?" He got his answer when her weapon broke through his aura and stabbed right through his shoulder.

Sulfur chuckled through the pain. "Okay, not one for conversations, but what if I tell you, Cinder was the one to send me. I'm actually here to make sure your plan succeeds; in fact, I'm desperate to make sure it's as affected as it can possibly be."

The girl tilted her head and harshly ripped the blade from his body before literally kicking off his stomach.

Sulfur groaned but got to his feet knowing that continuing to lie on the ground would just invite more abuse. "So, you and Cinder are allies?" He asked more just to say something than anything else.

The girl shook her head like he had just asked a particularly stupid question.

"Okay, acquaintances then?"

This time she shook her hand in a "sort of" gesture before going through many more hand motions that he didn't understand at all. She finished up by placing her hands on her hip like she expected an answer.

"Sure, I'll think about it," he provided vaguely, not about ready to admit his ignorance.

His answer seemed to be good enough, however, because the girl smiled, saluted him goodbye, and disappeared as quickly as she had appeared, like a ghost. If it wasn't for the hole in his shoulder, he might have really believed she was a ghost.

Sulfur spent the next few minutes trying to settle down from the encounter. He knew he should be moving, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. His heart was still beating like a battle drum even so long after her departure. That girl was a monster like none he had ever seen. He couldn't remember the last time he had been afraid of anything, but she had elicited it with her presence alone.

 _What an amazing person._

This was everything he had been looking for. A world that defies expectations. People that exist beyond convention. The perfect setting for an adventure.

Before he could lose himself in ecstasy, the door behind him open and in came Ruby and the rest of team RSTT. "Sulfur you're here!" his partner cried. "What happened to you?"

Sulfur was still holding his bloody shoulder since his little remain aura was doing a poor job of helping it. "I'll be okay," he tried reassuring. "More importantly do you know what's going on?"

Ruby did not look convinced but spilled what she knew anyways. "The train is strapped with bombs. They're trying to blow holes in the tunnel to lead grimm in the city. We're trying to get the front of the train to stop it."

"I see, then you three should go on ahead. I'll stay behind and see what I can do."

"We're not leaving you!" Ruby argued.

Sulfur placed a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes. "Don't worry about me. I'll be safer back here then if I were to go with you. My aura has taken some serious damage, so I'd only be a hindrance in a fight." Ruby's eyes drifted to the dead man on the floor then back up to him. She didn't say anything. "I have a little bit of knowledge of explosives, so I'll see if I can deactivate the bomb, but it's going to be up to you to stop the train. I doubt we have that much time left."

Ruby looked back at the other two members of the team, who were clearly hesitant but nodded nonetheless. "Alright we'll do it," she said. "Just be careful. Oobleck is back there somewhere so ask him for help."

"I will," he lied along with his knowledge of explosives.

That was enough for Ruby as she sped off into the next car with the other two leaving him behind. He waited a few seconds to make sure they wouldn't come back for any reason. Once he heard the sounds of battle, he headed on his way, finding a hatch on the roof and climbing up.

There was nobody on top that he could see, but he did catch the back car detaching itself and exploding a few seconds later. The cavern shook and part of the ceiling collapse. Grimm tumbled in to join the already extensive horde.

Sulfur made his way to the second the last car and watched them. There were a lot of them alright and they looked pissed enough, but would something like this really be enough? Sure, it would be a surprise and people would die, but there was an Atlas fleet guarding the city and Vale had capable people of its own. It just didn't feel like something that was going to leave an impact.

A tragedy to be sure, but only one that was covered on the nightly news and then forgotten about the next day as people return to their normal lives only thinking how glad they are that nobody they knew was hurt. That wasn't right. A disaster should be felt by all. If only a portion of the population are directly affected then it really isn't a disaster.

Sulfur thought of a way he might rectify that problem when something bit his leg. Teeth tore open his pants and skin since he hadn't put up any aura. He tried kicking the creature off, but whatever had a hold of him had an iron jaw.

He was only able to finally make it let go after bashing his leg against the train top. What popped off wasn't a creature of grimm but Ruby's damn mutt. The ball of white and black fur growled at him with more ferocious than wild wolves.

Sulfur knew he wasn't in a state where he could outmaneuver a dog, so when it lunged for his neck, he let it have his arm instead. He did put up his aura, but with the measly amount he had left, Zwei broke right through. Teeth ground into flesh once again as the dog seemed intended on hitting bone.

Sulfur grabbed the mongrel by the scruff of his neck and pulled as hard as he could. He had to bite back a scream as the dog and a portion of his arm was ripped free. Blood soaked his jacket on both sides now, but the mutt was firmly in his grasp. His little legs ran and his head thrashed from side to side in an attempt to break free, but with no leverage to use there was no escape.

While Zwei tried to nip him, Sulfur looked to the front of the train where they were quickly approaching the tunnel's end. He wouldn't survive if the train crashed now, so something had to be done.

"Sorry boy, I can't play with you anymore, but don't worry I have some new playmates in mind. Try to get along." Sulfur tossed the dog off the train and into the pack of waiting grimm. The dog seemed almost confused as it flew through the air like it hadn't even thought it was a possibility for him to be thrown away. Did he think his cuteness was enough to protect him from death? If so that was pretty funny.

Zwei's existence came to an end with a painful yelp and a spray of blood, like a balloon bursting open. Sulfur didn't have time to appreciate his victory, however. He had maybe a minute before the train flew head first into Vale's tunnel seal.

"I sure hope this work," Sulfur said to himself as he pulled two dice from his pocket. One was black with glowing red dots and sported edges sharp enough to cut flesh. The other was gold plated with tranquil blue dots and felt warm to the touch.

"The nature of the world it to equal out. Just as one minus one is equal to zero, a calamity paired will a miracle will lead to nothing in the end. The only thing left to chance is the deviation."

He tossed the dice. The black die knocked into the gold die as if trying to push it off the train car, but the gold dice bounced off a rivet and returned. The black die stopped first and displayed a face of four.

Immediately after, the last bomb car detached and fell back. When it exploded, the force was easily five times greater than any that came before. This was not by design but was the result of usual factors suddenly coming into play. Also, not by design was the explosion happen just under Vale proper. A hole opened up under the border and portion of the wall collapsed leaving an opening for the grimm to enter from both below and above.

The gold die finished spinning only after that was done. It too displayed the number four.

The train sped into its destination, cracking the tunnel seal along with itself.

* * *

Alarms were sounding all throughout Vale as grimm poured in from two points. People were slaughtered in the streets as what must have seemed like an almost magical appearance of grimm. Atlas was struggling to stem the tide at both locations, and the huntsmen Vale had on hand were spread thin. The breach on in the wall was lager and more severe, but the hole in the center of the city gave the grimm a better chance to reach civilians. Since neither could be ignored, both were undermanned.

The three remaining members of team RSTT were confronting the grimm threat. They were covered in scratches and wounds, but not a single one had come from the train's collusion. Among team RSTT a girl in red fought more frantically than anyone else. She zipped around the battlefield like a bullet and cut down any grimm in her path.

Her speed wasn't enough, however. Grimm still slipped by and attack those who weren't as capable of defending themselves. At first, it was the White Fang members, who also survived the crash unscathed, but soon it was the civilians that either couldn't or didn't run away fast enough.

For Ruby Rose, a girl who always dreamed of being a hero and believed, wholeheartedly, in fairy tales, it was a nightmare like no other. It was understandable why. Her first mission as team leader had ended in abject failure. How bad did one have to screw up for a normal extermination mission to lead to grimm breaking into Vale? Yang would say that she wasn't to blame but that would be a lie. Ruby had been captured which lead to her having to be rescued putting everyone in peril. Her partner had gone missing only to turn up later seriously injured. One of her teammates—one of her friends was dead, cut down by a chainsaw-wielding maniac, while she had been sent to stop to the train, something she had completely failed to do. Now Vale was under siege and it was all her fault.

The only reasons she could stop the tears was because they would get in the way of killing grimm. Her leg and lungs burned as she ran faster than she ever had before. She cut down grimm ten at a time, but that didn't matter when they emerged twenty at a time.

A cry tore her attention backward where a young girl had tripped trying to run away. Her mom went to pull her up, but an ursa was already running towards them.

Ruby ran too.

The child tripped again as soon as she was pulled up having gone stiff from terror. The ursa stood on its hind legs, shadow overcasting the pair. The mom jumped in front of her daughter, arms held out as she faced the creature of darkness.

A silver blade cut through the ursa's neck in one motion, but it was too late. The bear grimm's claws had already torn open the poor woman's chest in four long, bloodied streaks.

The woman was dead before she hit the ground leaving only the sobbing child behind.

Ruby had failed again.

Another person taken by the grimm. Another daughter who would have to grow up without her mother. Another husband who would drink to forget. Another sister forced to forgo her childhood in order to step up.

The dam broke and so did a silver wave of light. All the grimm within sight were turned to stone, some rooted in place in front of the breach, slowing down those trying to get through.

Everyone in the surrounding area took notice, and among them was a man named Sulfur Insure who watched the silver-eyed warrior collapse with rapt fascination.

* * *

Jaune Arc was also among those who had witnessed the events, not the exact moment when Ruby had used her silver eyes, but he was one of the people who had fought against the grimm invasion.

He had been out shopping, looking to find the new issues of _X-ray and Vav_ , when the breach had occurred. People had started to panic and make a run for it as the threat became clear, but Jaune told them to stop with calmness that surprised even himself. He told them to barricade themselves inside the store knowing that would give them a better chance of survival than frantic running.

Obviously, people were hesitant to follow the orders of some teenager, but they changed their attitude when he displayed his new trick. Holding out his arm he, shaped his finger into a tube and Crocea Mors shifted into existence. Showing off magic so blatantly probably wasn't the best, but it gave the people the image of authority they needed and they could explain it as a semblance if they had to.

Blade in hand, Jaune stepped outside the store while the customers throw up everything they could find as a barricade. He saw a child in his mother arms looking at him like he was a hero, and he felt it. Standing his ground and protecting the people had always been his fantasy. If Emerald was here, she'd no doubt poke fun at the childlike joy and his face, but she had been too good for X-ray and Vav.

The grimm came in manageable numbers, all the heavy fighting being done at the breach's entrance. He cut down any that came close. His cuts were crude and strenuous, nothing like the quick, clean proficiency of the huntsmen, but they got the job done.

It was right after stabbing a creep through the stomach that the silver light hit. The growls and hisses he had been hearing for a past couple minutes suddenly went quiet. The nearly grimm had turned to what looked to be stone. Prying his sword free from its sudden encasement, Jaune looked around to make sure nothing was going to endanger the people in the store then took off to investigate.

He passed many grimm statues and bloody bodies which only grew more numerous the closer he got to the plaza. When he arrived the grimm were still a threat, but the Atlas military had been able to regain control after the strange phenomenon. Most grimm were shot dead before they left the tunnel. A tunnel that had train wreckage coming out of it. A train that looked very similar to one he had seen back at Mt. Glenn.

All thoughts of discovering what had turned the grimm to stone were forgotten as he stumbled towards the tunnel's entrance. All his previous heroic grandeur fell away like a crumbling mountainside as it dawned on him.

Someone grabbed his shoulder and told him it was too dangerous to go any farther. Jaune would have ignored them, having to see for himself, but the proof presented itself in a different way.

Back and out of the way of the destruction Jaune spotted a small girl. She might have been mistaken for a child, but Jaune knew better. As if sensing his look, Neo turned to face him. He tried to convey his anger, but she just winked at him before vanishing on the spot.

His face drained of color.

This was his fault.

The next thing he knew he was throwing up in a side street trash can. It felt like liquid mashed potatoes coming up and tasted like spoiled milk and Styrofoam. The dry heaving came next which actually felt worse.

 _Good or bad this is my job_ , what a lie that had been. What had even been the point of removing the echoes? Nobody had been saved by doing that, but there was certainly a number of people dead because of it.

Jaune reared up and punch a wall. It didn't make him feel any better. Emerald was right, and now he was paying the price for being wrong.

Anger welled up inside of him, more than he'd ever felt before. He ripped his scroll from his pocket and dialed the number of the only person that would have answers for him. Surprisingly the call went through. "ROMAN, YOU LIED TO ME!"

The calm unconcerned reply only infuriated Jaune more. "I don't recall ever lying to you."

"Mt. Glenn! You said you were going there for "excavation" and that I wouldn't be helping to commit a crime."

"And you didn't. Removing the echoes wasn't directly related to any of this. It was just for my peace of mind."

"Roman, you bast—"

"Just shut up, kid! Don't act like you're a victim. You understood what was happening the moment I called you. You knew I wasn't sending you to Mt. Glenn for charity work. You knew people were going to get hurt, so don't go blaming me for everything."

"I didn't know it was going to be like this." Tears rolled down Jaune's cheeks. "I didn't know people were going to die."

"Well, ignorance is a bitch to all of us. Consequence come back to bite you in the ass all the time. You think I wanted this? Bringing grimm to the city I live in and be carted off to General Hardwood's airship as a monstrous terrorist." Jaune almost asked how they were having this conversation if he was in Atlas' custody but clicked his mouth shut, still having enough senses to not waste a question on something like that. "Of course, I didn't, but you have to play along in this world and do things you'd prefer not to. You have to weigh the odds and make the choice that's best for you. Whatever comes after that you just have to live with."

Jaune didn't know if he could. He wanted to crush his phone and throw it on the ground as hard as he could. He wanted to Roman to get on his knees and apologize for everything. He wanted to go back in time and beat himself over the head for agreeing to go to Mt. Glenn, but he wasn't going to get any of those things. "Alright," he told Roman.

"I'm glad you see it my way."

Jaune didn't but he wasn't going to argue.

"Now, what's your question?"

"What?"

"Your question. You called so I'll answer any question to have to the best of my ability."

"That wasn't what this was about."

"That's too bad. Our deal was that you got three calls to ask any question. If you really want to use a call without asking anything that's fine with me, but my advice is you should think of something."

Jaune growled. As satisfying as it would have been to hang up on Roman, it would be a huge waste, something Roman knew. Jaune might have not had a question lined up to ask, but it didn't take long for him to think of one.

"What happened to the grimm?"

* * *

 _Kid, you really hit the mother lode on that one. Explaining that requires some information on a dozen other topics that could have been their own questions. I'm unsure if I should be proud or irritated but a deal's a deal._

 _Let's start with the gods. I know that might seem out of nowhere, but trust me, it will all be relevant. First thing you need to know is how magic works in relation to gods. For every other being in the universe that uses magic internally, it's a depleting resource bound to run out. Gods, on the other hand, are able to produce magical power themselves as long as they exist, it's what makes them gods. This creates a system where they are more powerful the less they actually use their power._

 _Which brings us to the brothers, the God of Light and the God of Darkness. Their story isn't that much a secret so I'll be brief. Basically, they fought over Remnant like it was their playpen each using their magic to make toys to destroy the other's. This went on for who knows how long. Now the worshippers would have you believe that the God of Light proposed a deal to put a stop to it, but the God of Light isn't nearly that bright. Instead, it was the oldest of the three brothers, the one that no one talks about, who put a stop to it._

 _Now there's a reason why no one knows about the eldest brother because while the other two were flinging around their power like it was going out of style, the eldest didn't much care and sat on his magic. Of course, this made him far more power than either of his siblings, even combined._

 _But like every older sibling, he grew tired of his brothers' endless bricking, so he created something of his own. The eldest wasn't just the most powerful of the three; however, he was the smartness. He didn't create a thing but instead created a law that the whole universe had to follow. He created death._

 _You have to understand death and destruction are not the same, not even close. When the God of Darkness destroyed one of the God of Light's creations, or the other way around, it wasn't gone. It was just in a different form than it had been before like kicking over a sand castle, the castle is gone but the sand it still there. The gods could still use the building blocks left behind, create some more, and make an even more powerful creation._

 _I'm sure you can see this would have gotten completely out of hand eventually which is probably why the eldest stepped in. He made it so when beings were gone they were gone forever. You could create something that looked identical and put it through the same thing you did before, but it would never be the same. There is no force in this universe magic or otherwise that can bring the dead back to life._

 _I imagine the younger brothers threw a trauma. It was now risky business pitting their toys against each other because now even the weakest ants could kill the strongest goliaths if they got lucky and cost the gods possibly centuries of magic power, but they couldn't go against the eldest, after all, the law of death applied to everything, gods included._

 _Anyways a bunch of time passed, the younger siblings struck a deal, humans were created, civilizations rose and fell and so on. It wasn't until a desperate maiden came asking for a resurrection did things change. For you see while death is irreversible once it happens there are tricks that can be used to evade it. For instance, keeping a human's soul in a separate place after the body gives out, agreed upon by the younger siblings never to touch. It was God of Darkness that broke the agreement and revealed the trick._

 _The God of Death was not pleased with the circumvention of his decree and put an end to that loophole. To further spite his brothers, he meddled in the destruction of the creations that rebelled against them, protecting some from harm. Although I like to think he had just grown fond of us._

 _Sometime later, however, the God of Light broke the law of death using a different trick, even using the same soul as before. Once again, the God of Death closed the loophole although, strangely, he did not destroy the one that had befitted from it. However, having his law cast aside for the second time caused him to realize that as long as there were laws there would always be beings trying to break them._

 _It was impossible to know every possible trick that might be used. It's magic's nature to cause irregularities in the world, so he created something to combat and manage it, and he bestowed that power onto certain members of the humanity he saved._

 _At first, some thought the power was a gift from the God of Light to protect creation, but the silver light he had used was nothing but a poor imitation of his older brother's power._

 _Silver-eyed warriors were granted the ability to erase magic wherever they see it._

 _They are the God of Death's watchful eyes._

* * *

 **An: Sorry to all of those who were hoping to see a vacation chapter with Emerald and Jaune, but that was always intended to be more of a justification for them not to go on any adventures in the one or two months between their journey to Mt. Glenn and this chapter. Never fear though, I promise that Jaune and Emerald will have their moments, and that things did happen off screen. You'll just have to wait a little longer.**

 **In other news, to no one's surprise Sulfur is a bad guy. When I planned this story out I was very hesitant to put an OC in such a prominent role. Many people (myself included) are turned off immediately when they see an OC tag or a story heavily based around them. That's not to say there aren't good, even great, stories with an OC main character, but it's my belief that people come to fanfiction (RWBY especially) to read about the characters they know. Even if the OC is well written and flows naturally into the story, most readers just don't want to see some random person taking up all the spotlight.**

 **So, with all that said, why did I make Sulfur, dedicate nearly an entire chapter to him, and even give him POV? The first reason is that there wasn't any other RWBY character that really fit into what I wanted this character to be in the story. I heavily considered Mercury or Whitley at one point, but as the planning went on, I found other roles for those characters that fit them better.**

 **I guess I could have used Cardin or Sky or even Sun, or one of those characters thrown in during the Vytal like Nadir, but I didn't want to destroy anyone's personality just so I could have them fill the role I needed. In that case, it would've still been a OC. I just would have been trying to hide it with a name and appearance that happened to be canon in the show.**

 **Now, that being said, would anyone have really cared if I diluted the character of Nadir (sorry all you Nadir fans) for all we know he really could be a monstrous dog killer, but that gets me into the other reason Sulfur exists.**

 **Fanfiction is unique in that most of the readership already knows how the story is supposed to go down. Everyone already knew that the breach was going to happen and that Ruby had special eye powers, but in a story about hidden worlds and out of place powers, it makes since to have a villain who is literally out of place. He doesn't belong to the RWBY world and you, as the readers, feel it. His backstory and motives are hidden in a way that other characters just can't be.**

 **Anyways that's my long-winded speech justifying Sulfur Insure. Maybe it was unnecessary for many of you, but I feel like I owed it to you. My goal is to create an enjoyable story, and it's the readers that keep it going. If no one wanted to read this story then I wouldn't have wanted to continue writing it. It's why I read every review and take every suggestion to heart, as long as the person knows what they're talking about. If a lot of readers don't like something, I will do my best to fix it later on (it happened with the fourth wall breaks back in the early chapters), so don't be afraid to voice your opinions positive or negative, and thank you all very much for reading, it really means a lot.**

…

…

 **That being said if there's overwhelming hate for Sulfur than I don't know what I'm going to do. He's pretty solidified at this point.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Beta** : ShadowMester234

The breach had cost Vale a lot. The reports were still coming in but at least three hundred people had lost their lives and many more were in critical condition. People were still in mourning but the backlash was already starting to show. By tomorrow it would be in full force. People were going to demand answers. Meetings were going to take place, discussions would be had and statements prepared, but before any of that could happen, Ozpin needed to know what happened.

That was why the headmaster was sat in his office with James, Glynda, Oobleck and Sulfur in attendance. The teachers and the general were behind his desk while the sole student sat in a chair in front of it.

Despite being at the center of the event, and having the focus of some of the most powerful and influential people on Remnant directed at him, Sulfur didn't look worried or nervous at all. Instead the way he kept tapping his foot on the ground suggested he was more impatient than anything else.

Begin able handed with any situations in a collective manner was a desired trait for all huntsmen, but considering one of the boy's teammates had been killed, the other currently passed out in the infirmary and last having submitted their intention to quit Beacon, his demeanor was off-putting, unnatural even.

"We just have a few more questions to ask you," Ozpin said.

"Go ahead, but I told you everything that happened. We went on that mission, discovered the White Fang's presence and tried to stop them from blowing a hole in Vale. Sadly, the grimm and the White Fang weren't going easy on us." He flapped around his almost completely bandaged arm for added effect.

"Please don't do that," Glynda reprimanded. "You'll aggravate the wound and maybe tear it open." She turned to Ozpin. "I still think this meeting should have been held in the infirmary if at all. Mr. Insure needs his rest."

"I'm fine," Sulfur insisted, "I can still walk and the painkillers I was given are working like a dream, can't feel a thing. Besides I'm sure the infirmary has a lot more pressing patients to look after than me."

Ozpin couldn't deny that. Injuries were always higher around the time missions were given, and while no student was in critical condition, as far as he knew, with what had happened, the nursing staff were probably overwhelmed with patients. If Sulfur said he was fine then more power to him.

"Back to your mission," Ozpin stated, ignoring the look Glynda was giving him, "there are still a few things I don't understand. Even though we had no knowledge of the White Fang activity, for that mission in particular because of the sheer number of grimm, it should have been inaccessible to a first-year team. How did team RSTT acquire it?"

Sulfur shrugged. "I don't know. There wasn't any indication that we weren't allowed to take it, and nothing stopped us when we did."

"Ozpin," James grunted.

"I know, let me handle it."

There were only two ways the system would have allowed team RSTT to accept that mission, none of them ideal. Either the system glitched or someone changed the mission settings without his knowledge, possibly the same person who attacked the CTT tower. He would have to look into it and see if whatever had happened had affected just that mission or all of them.

In the meantime, there was another question to be answered. Ozpin turned to Oobleck. "Why did you let team RSTT accompany you despite knowing the mission was only for second-years and above?"

The man under scrutiny nervously adjusted his glasses. "Everything sent to my scroll regarding the mission was correct and official, so I assumed there must have been some sort of change. It's not uncommon for a mission to be downgraded."

"Yet you didn't think to call me to confirm," Glynda said, shooting Oobleck a look that could boil water.

"I didn't want to bother you. I know how busy you always are." The man was sweating bullets.

"When it comes to the safety of my students, I am never too busy!"

"That's enough," Ozpin said. "Clearly our communication policy needs to be looked over, but this is not the time for arguments."

"Sorry sir," Glynda mutter, adjusting her posture and fixing her expression to the professional scowl the students were used to.

Ozpin sighed feeling a long night becoming even longer. He returned his attention to the student who had seen everything go down. Instead of the childish glee most student would likely have at seeing their teachers flustered, Sulfur seemed almost bored, his leg shaking up and down as his foot played a rapid rhythm on the floor tiles.

"There's something I would like you to clarify?" Ozpin asked. "You and Miss. Rose were missing when the unknown signal was fired, alerting the Oobleck and the rest of your team. What were you doing during that time?"

Sulfur rolled his eyes, tired of having to repeat himself again. "Ruby had left her post to chase after her dog. The movement woke me up and I followed, but before I caught her, she ran into the White Fang. The road collapsed while she was fighting them and she fell into the underground where she was captured."

"Why didn't you go back to your team and get help?"

"I sent the dog to alert the team since it could run faster than I could while I went after Ruby."

It's was the general's time to speak up. "Yet, you did not rescue Miss. Rose. Dr. Oobleck and the rest of your team were the ones to find her despite you having such a head start. Also, when your team finally did reconnect with you, you were in the already moving train nowhere near Miss. Rose. That is quite a bit of time unaccounted for."

Sulfur's eyes darken and his foot came to a stop with a solid thud. "I made the best decisions I could given the situation. The White Fang were on high alert after capturing Ruby, and she was being heavily guarded. I had no way of rescuing her without risking my life or hers. Then the grimm appeared and I had to take cover which is how I ended up on the train."

"Are you sure about that?"

"I am, general," Sulfur said, not backing down. "If you're looking for someone to blame, I suggest making our dear leader the scapegoat. It was her recklessness and inability to sit still that lead to the mission being a disaster from the start."

"No one is suggesting placing blame on anybody other than Torchwick and the White Fang," Glynda said, harshly. "Isn't that right, James."

That man visibly stiffened. "Of course."

Ozpin spoke up, trying to ease the growing tension. "Yes, well I think we can all agree that we don't have any more questions for Mr. Insure. You are free to leave. I know it might be hard with what happened but try and get as much rest as you can."

Sulfur didn't move.

"Is something wr—"

"You know I have my own question that I want to ask," Sulfur stated. "What is going on with my partner?"

"I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on now, everyone saw the light that turned the grimm to stone, and quite a few even saw the girl that did it. What is she?"

"I don't know what power Miss. Rose possesses or how she used it. Rest assured, though, that we will investigate and ask her about it when she wakes up. You will be the first to know if we discover anything."

"Uh-huh, I'm sure. Just as sure that it's a coincidence that the girl with special grimm killing powers also happens to be the one offered a position at Beacon two years early. You won't mind if I do a little research on my own, will you? After all, it can only help fill in our lack of knowledge, and it would be boring for me to sit around doing nothing all day."

"I think it would be better to focus on healing," Ozpin said, his composure, built up over many lifetimes, not cracking one bit.

"I didn't hear a no," The errant student chuckled. He stood up, gave the teacher's clumsy bow that would have been better suited at an old royal court, and left.

"You can leave too, Bart," Ozpin mentioned.

"Yes, I think I will—again, I'm very sorry for what happened," Oobleck stumbled

"Don't hold yourself at fault. No one can predict how a mission will go. Not even you."

"I suppose not."

Dr. Oobleck walked away, for the first time in a long time not running around on a caffeine high.

Once he was gone only the two headmasters and the deputy headmistress were left.

"That boy isn't right," Ironwood informed them.

"He's just worried about his partner," Ozpin defended.

"He didn't look worried at all. Everything that happened to him and his team, yet he sat there like he didn't care."

"Everyone copes in different ways."

"He also wasn't being honest with us. From everything we've heard I'm sure he was the one that shot the flare."

"That might be the case, but if he did, it was only him trying to alert his team. Perhaps he was embarrassed to admit it after learning how much of a mistake it was."

"Did he looked like someone that would be embarrassed about anything?"

"It is not your job to judge the mentality of my students."

"It is when he lied to us about a mission that cost hundreds of innocents their lives." The heat was rising in Ironwood's voice. "He's not normal and very well might be dangerous."

"There's no proof he lied about anything," Ozpin reminded his colleague. "That said, I do agree that his behavior wasn't something I like to see. I'll have a psychologist talk to him later."

"Do you think he might be working for her?" Ironwood whispered.

"No I do not," Ozpin said shutting the general down. "Are there any other concerns you would like to address."

"Yes, there is. What are you going to tell the public about the petrified grimm? Your student was right when he said everyone saw it, or at least knows about it, and they're going to demand answers."

"We will simply say that it was a student's semblance that went out of control. We won't mention names and no one, even those who saw it firsthand, will have no reason to claim otherwise."

"No one except the people that know about her real semblance. A list which Sulfur is a part of. Lying to the public will basically confirm we're trying to hide something."

"We'll deal with that if it comes up."

"It will."

"I appreciate your input but nothing is certain."

Glynda watched the two men go back and forth as she had for many years now. One would think that given the seriousness of the situation they could put their bickering aside but no. They were both good people, she knew that, but they each had very different ideas about how things should be run, and it was a rare day when one admitted the other was right.

"What about Torchwick?" she asked, putting a stop to their childishness.

The general straightened up, presenting a very military pose in an attempt to impress her as if she had not just seen his shouting match. "He's safely aboard my airship. No one is coming to rescue him and there's no way he can escape." James expression suddenly turned sour. "Unfortunately, he's not talking. Well actually, he's talking a lot just not about anything important."

"It's still early, I'm sure he'll open up once he gets bored," Glynda reassured.

"Possibly." He didn't look like he had much faith in that. "There is something else I would like to discuss, however. It's about the Vytal Festival."

"What about the Vytal Festival?" Ozpin asked.

"You're not going to like this, but I think it should be canceled?"

"James, you can't be serious?" Glynda said, completely taken aback.

"I am. With what's been going on we can't guarantee everybody's safety. There's too many forces at play right now, and the city needs to recover."

"That's all the more reason to have it," Ozpin argued. "With the grimm invasion and our defenses weaken people need the entertainment and happiness the Vytal Festival brings in more than ever. If you cancel it now the negativity might be enough to bring grimm back into the city. That's not even mentioning all the preparation and lien that's already gone into it. The students from the other academies are already here as well."

"I realize all that, and I know it won't be a popular decision, but we've already had an organized terrorist attack that killed hundreds. The White Fang isn't going to stop, and I can't think of a more appealing target than the Vytal Festival. They'll definitely try something."

"And it's our job to make sure we stop them. Safety has never been a guarantee but no Vytal Festival has ever been canceled before. Besides, even if I agreed with you, I'm not the one that gets to decide. The council makes those calls."

"I know you have enormous sway with the council. If we support each other and tell them our concerns, I'm sure—"

"We can save this discussion for another day. For now, we need to focus on mitigating the disaster that did happen, not the one you perceive might happen."

* * *

Yang didn't know what to think when Russel told her Blake had disappeared. They had been called back from their mission, Vale was in a panic, her sister was unconscious in the infirmary and now their team leader was missing.

They searched all over Beacon, but there was no sign of her. They tired her scroll but that didn't lead anywhere, and later Sky noticed that a lot of Blake's things were gone as well. It seemed clear that Blake hadn't been captured or forced out, but had left on her own volition. For what reason, they had no idea.

The best course of action was just to inform a teacher. Miss. Goodwitch promised them that she would look into it. She tried to reassure them that it was very likely that Blake had family somewhere in the city and had just rushed off to check on them after what had happened.

Yang took that for what it was but she, and from the looks of it Miss. Goodwitch too, didn't really believe that. So, with that in mind, Yang hobbled back down to the infirmary to sit by his sister's bed.

She was just so tired of everything.

The nurses didn't spare her a second glance as they moved from patient to patient. The aftermath of the breach had mostly tapered off throughout the night, at least in Beacon. The general hospitals in the city were probably still flooded with people. A vast majority of people in the Beacon infirmary were here thanks to aura exhaustion. The other cases were the one who got injured ranging all the way from minor bite and claw marks to broken bones and pierced organs. Then there was Ruby. Nothing was wrong with her physically, but she hadn't woken up since she collapsed after—well after whatever she did.

Yang wouldn't have even known about it if Ruby's teammates hadn't told her. At any other time, Yang might have been overjoyed at learning of how much of a badass her sister was, not thinking of the implications, but with Ruby in a state like this, that had so clearly been brought on by using that power, the implications were all she could think about.

Of course, she had interrogated the remaining members of team RSTT but that hadn't gone anywhere. The soon to be ex-member was only able to give Yang an account of what she witnessed which wasn't much, and when Yang ran into Sulfur, who really should have stayed in the infirmary, he had asked her the same questions she had been wanting answers for.

Dead ends all around.

Yang groaned and rested her head on the side of the hospital bed. "I don't think Beacon turn out how either of us expected," she spoke. "Fighting grimm and being heroes was supposed to be fun, but I guess we were being stupid. You're probably going to blame yourself when you wake up but you shouldn't. Nobody could have predicted it and you did better than anybody could have expected. It was because you were there that so many people were saved even if you don't think so. Team RSTT did amazing things even if half of them are gone now."

That's what was going to hit Ruby the hardest, the loss of half her team and Zwei too. She was going to curse ever being team leader, and probably regret coming to Beacon two years early at all. At worst Ruby might fall into a depression and Yang didn't know if she could stop her. Dad had lost it when one of his teammates died, and while Ruby and her team nowhere near as close as Tai and Summer had been, Ruby loved her team and would've done anything for them.

Yang ran her finger through Ruby's hair. "I know it might not mean much but I think you're a great leader. Certainly, better than mine. You're still here while my partner just went and abandoned me."

 _Just like everyone else._

"Didn't even say a single word, and I have no idea if she's coming back. She said she was going to be more open with us. What a load of shit that was. I just don't understand why she couldn't just talk to me. I would have listened; did she think I wouldn't? Just how selfish can she be? I thought we were friends!"

Yang's eyes had turned red even if she didn't know it and her finger held Ruby's hair in a vice grip. It was very possible that the rising level of her voice and the building anger was what caused Ruby to stir.

"Yang," she whispered.

"I'm right here," Yang replied, leaning in and letting go of her sister's hair to find and grab her hand. "Everything is okay. You're in Beacon's infirmary."

"Yang, is that really you?" She sounded so weak.

"Of course, it's me," she said trying to laugh it off. "Who else could it be."

"How do I know?"

Yang paused. What a strange thing to ask? "Well, you could open your eyes," she suggested noticing Ruby still had them closed.

"I don't want to," Ruby said shaking her head furiously. "It's going to hurt."

"I can get you some sunglasses if you want."

"No, it's not the light it…" Ruby was sweating profusely. Yang could feel it just from holding her hand. It felt like a wet sponge, a very hot, wet sponge. "…it hurts to see. I don't want to look. It burns."

Ruby was shaking and scrunching her eyelids as tight as she possibly could, but something was still dripping from them. It definitely wasn't tears. In fact, it was like nothing Yang had ever seen before. If she had to describe it, she could only say it was what remained of her aura. A liquid aura that was so shiny and filled with life.

Yang wasn't given any more time to look at it, however, because that's when Ruby began to scream. A nurse rushed over, looking completely shocked that this was happening, before calling over another one.

Yang froze. Her sister was in horrible pain, screaming in agony right in front of her, but she couldn't do a thing about it. "You need to leave," a nurse said grabbing her and pulling her away.

Yang growled and dug in her heels. "I'm not leaving my sister."

"I know you're worried, but let us handle this. Will find out what is wrong and we'll make her better."

No you won't, Yang wanted to scream. They didn't know anything about what was happening to her. They didn't know how to treat the aftermath of using supernatural eye powers. Yang wouldn't be in the way of anything!

However, she still left because while they couldn't do anything about Ruby's eyes, they could probably do something about her pain. The more pressing reason, though, was that Yang just didn't want to be in that room and watch her sister suffer. She supposed that made her a coward.

Even out in the hallway, she could her Ruby's screams and it took every ounce of power she had not to walk away from that too. Her hands were turning white from gripping her arms so hard.

The screaming lasted for five minutes—five whole tortuous minutes of the most painful cries Yang had ever heard—before the nurse finally put Ruby under. Yang was let back in and approached Ruby's bed on shaky legs. Her sister was sleeping but it did not look peaceful at all. Sweat continuously gather on her forehead and she tossed and turned so much that her blanket had been removed so she wouldn't get tangled up in it. A few machines that Yang didn't know the purpose of hung around and attached to her sister. The nurses were trying to look busy, but just as Yang suspected, their faces gave anyway that they didn't have any idea of what to do.

The cause was clear, however. It was that damn power. Yang didn't care how amazing it was or how it had saved the city. She didn't care that the media was calling it the greatest weapon against grimm since dust rounds. It was hurting her sister and that was all that mattered. It had to be cured or stopped or sealed or whatever needed to be done to end Ruby's suffering. The problem was nobody she had talked to had a clue as to what this power was let alone how to deal with.

Maybe this would only be a momentary flash of intense pain and Ruby would be back up on her feet by tomorrow, or it could be everlasting effect and Ruby wouldn't be able to open her eyes ever again. Each of those outcomes were just as viable and just as likely with the scant information she had.

She needed to know more. A lot more, as soon as possible, but who to ask? If the teachers knew anything they should have already said something. The same went for her dad and uncle Qrow since Yang had already called them about Ruby's condition after the breach was settled. That only left an outside source, but it wasn't like she knew any information brokers.

A lightbulb went off her head. Actually, she did know one. He probably wouldn't be happy to see her. Scratch that he definitely wouldn't be happy to see her, but that was too bad for him. Ruby was in trouble and he was the only one that might have answers.

It was time to pay the club another visit.

* * *

Yang rode down the shadier streets of Vale. People on the sidewalk, dressed in baggy clothes, eyed her, or Bumblebee, or maybe both as she drove past. She stopped in front of the club and rested her bike on its kickstand. The two suited goons, guarding the entrance, looked scared as she walked up to them. Understandable if they were the same ones she kicked the crap out of the last time she was here.

"Watch my bike," she said getting right into the face of one. "If anything happens to it I'll beat you so bad that you'll be walking with your head below your ass. Do I make myself clear?"

The man nodded frantically.

"Good," Yang said, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder before entering the club. Ten steps in she was met with the barrels of at least a dozen guns. Her eyes flashed red. "I suggest you put those down before I really get mad."

"Everyone stop!" a gruff voice shouted from behind the bar. "Don't shoot her. The last thing I need is for this place to be destroyed again." The thugs listen to their boss and lowered their weapons.

"Glad we could come to an understanding." Yang moved forward letting the thugs split as she walked towards the bar. It was still pretty early for the club to be open, so it was basically empty. The only customer looked to be some drunk passed out on the counter. Yang gave him a three seat berth as she took her seat.

"What are you doing here, Blondie," Junior said taking his position from across the bar.

"I want information."

"The last time you came here for that it didn't end well." Junior looked around the club nervously.

"I think you mean it didn't end well for _you_." She wasn't in the mood for games or conversation. She was on a mission, and she didn't have time for even the slightest sidetrack. Every second wasted was another second Ruby suffered.

She slammed some lien on the counter, lien she had taken out of her savings. Junior was surprised, eyeing her with suspicion. His hand slowly moved over the counter as if asking for permission. Yang nodded and he swiped the money like it had been on a burning grill. "What information are you looking for?"

"It's about the breach."

"I can't tell you anything that the media hasn't already said. There isn't a cover-up if that's what you're thinking."

"No, it's not the breach itself. It's what happened to the grimm after that. My sister was the one to do it, but now she's at Beacon going through unimaginable pain because of it."

Junior leaned in, interested. "Tell me more."

Yang's eyes narrowed and the ends of her hair started to glow. "This isn't something to be passed off onto the next person that pays you. What I tell you never leaves your mouth or anyone else's."

Junior backed off. "I understand. Being an information broker is as much about not telling secrets as it is telling them, so tell me about your sister. I'm guessing the story Beacon told about it just being powerful semblance, was a pack of lies?"

"Yeah, Ruby's real semblance is being able to burst into rose petals and move real fast, not shoot a wave of light and turn grimm into stone."

Junior pondered it for a moment. "Is it possible she awakened a second semblance, or that the trauma from the breach caused it to change? It would be unheard of, but semblances are part of the soul, so theoretically, it doesn't seem impossible. It also might explain why she's in so much pain."

Yang sucked on her lip as she thought. That explanation might make sense, but it didn't sit right with here. From the brief conversation they had when Ruby woke up, Yang was confident it was still the same Ruby as always. "No, I don't think so. This was something different. It was almost," she was hesitant to say this especially since she didn't actually witness it, but she didn't know how else to describe it, "magical."

"Hee, maaaagic," the drunk snorted in half conscious.

Junior didn't laugh at her, at least, just shook his head like he was clearly cobwebs from his head. "I'll admit what happened during the breach wasn't normal, but we're both just speculating. I'm sorry, but I don't have anything to tell you that might help your sister. I'll keep my ears open, but I wouldn't hold out hopes. Information like that isn't going to pass along the street if it even exists at all."

Yang balled her hands into fists and scowled causing the man to back up a bit probably remember the last time he couldn't give her the information she wanted. She wasn't mad at him, though, not this time. It had been a long shot that he would know anything about Ruby's condition.

"I have another thing I want to know," she said. "My partner disappeared last night and I have no idea why. She's done this before and I want to find her and yell at her until she's begging for forgiveness."

"Now, this is more up my alley." Junior seemed to light up as adjusted his tie and stepped back up to the edge of the counter. "What's their name and what do they look like."

"She a black-haired girl with amber eyes just a tad shorter than me. I've never seen her dress in anything that wasn't black and white, and her name is Blake Belladonna."

"Belladonna? Is she a faunus?"

"No, why?"

"No reason. I guess it's just a coincidence. I'll make sure to keep a look out for her. Anything else?"

A horrible sounding groan stopped Yang from answering. "What a pain," the drunk said pushing himself off the counter and into the real world. His eyes were hazy and his jaw hung loosely as he twisted his head and neck to look around the club probably in an attempt to figure out where he was.

Yang normally would have ignored him, but he looked oddly familiar. Two bunny keychains with opposing expression jangled as the guy shifted to look at the only other person sitting at the bar.

Now that she saw his face, Yang remembered that he was the guy at Forever Falls that her sister had found. Also, the person who apparently groped her, she thought bitterly.

It took him a while to work through the alcohol and put it together, but he seemed to recognize her as well. "You're…um that girl. Whas you do-un here?" He sounded kind of angry but it was hard to tell with the slur.

"What do you care," she replied, not wanting to interact with him or his nasty breath any more than she had to.

"Wanna make sures you're not gonna hurt anybodies. Like ur sister."

Yang stood up, eyes glowing crimson, and slammed her both her hands on the counter. "I'm trying to help her! Can you even imagine what it feels like to know your little sister is suffering from something that nobody understands and you can't do anything about?" She didn't want to cry especially not here, but her emotions were boiling over. She couldn't help it when the tears slid down her cheeks. "It feels like you're being drowned. It's painful to even breath and your whole body feels heavy, but you have to keep going because you don't know what will happen if you don't."

The guy recoiled and his eyes shifted downward. "Damn it," he muttered, "it wus her. Guess, Silver-Eyed Warriors aren't so come-un."

Yang was on him in a second grabbing the collar of his shirt and swinging him around. The sudden motion didn't do any favors for his stomach, but she didn't care even if he puked on her because he had made a mistake

 _She had never said anything about Ruby's silver eyes being the cause._

"What did you say!"

"Blondie, let's just calm down," Junior said but Yang didn't listen.

"Why did you call her a Silver-Eyed Warrior?"

"Get off me!"

"What's happening to her."

The guy pulled back and punched her in the face. It was a weak attack that didn't even drop her aura, but it startled her enough to get her to let go, but it didn't take long for here to get angry. This guy knew something she needed and she was going to get that information one way or another.

He didn't stand a chance as Yang rushed up and delivered her own blow to his face at full force not thinking about how he might not have aura or be too drunk to use it if he did. Luckily the guy's aura did flare to protect him, but it didn't stop him from being sent halfway across the bar and crash into a table.

He vomited after the impact rolling away just slightly while holding his stomach and his head. Yang didn't give a damn about his state of being, though, as she stomped towards him ready to deliver another firecracker if he didn't comply. "Tell me everything you know or your hangover is going to be the least of your worries."

His only response was a painful groan.

Yang readied herself for round two, but before she could start, a chain, that came out of nowhere, warped around her arms and torso pinning them together. She tried to wiggle free but she was quickly pulled up and back causing her to fly in an arc across the club and land painful on the dance floor.

The chain came undone at the halfway point, so Yang jumped to her feet and deployed her shotgun gauntlets, looking for the person that sent her flying. They weren't hard to find as a green-haired girl, who Yang also recognized from Forever Fall, walk onto the dance floor wielding two chained weapons.

She looked pissed.

"What do you think you're doing?" Each word was punctuated with some serious killer intent.

"I am trying to save my sister, so get out of my way!"

"No."

Something hit her from her left side despite the other girl still standing in front of her. The force snapped her head to the right, but she blindly fired a blast in the direction the hit came from. It didn't hit anything and Yang was subjected to what felt like a kick to the underside of her jaw. By the time she managed to look down the space was empty and the green-haired girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Damn it, stop hiding a fight me for real!"

"But I am," a voice very close behind her said. In a fraction of a second Yang was able to spin around and deliver a barrage of punches. Unfortunately, there was nothing there. Instead, a few bullets peppered the back of her skull before she ducked away.

Yang knew she was quickly going to lose at this rate, so she jumped up into the air and aimed her fist downwards.

"Nononono," Junior cried from behind the counter, but it was too late. With her semblance enhanced strength, she punched the dance floor, shattered it and sending a shockwave out in every direction. A girlish grunt echoed from behind, and Yang was quick to take hold of her advantage, rushing the girl while she was still recovering.

The girl huffed clearly not having time to use her trickery and instead went with an overhead swing as Yang approached. The blade caught the top of Yang gauntlet to which the girl followed up by pulling the trigger of the weapon.

Yang blocked all the shots with her other gauntlet and when the ammo ran dry she pushed forward and grabbed the girl's arm. Since she was using both hands to hold her weapons, there was no way for her to defend against a grapple which Yang exploited by tossing her over her shoulder and sending her crashing into the already broken floor, keeping hold of her arm.

While on the ground she lashed out with several kicks striking at Yang shins and side. They were sharp and painful but Yang didn't let go. She sent a straight directly into her opponent's abdomen. She tried to block by bringing up the weapon in her unrestrained arm, but at this close of a range, it was easy to see who held the advantage.

Yang's fist landed true causing the other girl to hack up saliva and air. Yang pulled back for another, but the girl swiped her blade at her other arm finally forcing Yang to let go, and allowing the girl to flip backwards and put some distance between them again.

She had stumbled a bit in her acrobatics proving that the gut punch had done some damage, but that didn't stop her from using her blades on chains in a full out assault. They swung in large arcs cutting up the already destroyed floor and even nicking the ceiling in some places. Yang had to work fast to block or dodge the green blades and even the occasional bullet when the girl lined up her swing and the barrel of her gun just right. The green-haired girl was also very purposely keeping her from moving into Ember Celica's effective range.

Since all Yang could do was play defense and look for an opening, it was no surprise that some attacks got through. A scratch to her thigh, a hit to her shoulder, a bullet to the upper arm, it was all manageable until one of the blades came in from a blind spot. It didn't quite make it to her body, but what it did cut was her hair. It wasn't just an unnoticeable bit either. A good inch or two of her mane, on the left side only, were shaved off.

Time slowed down as she watched the golden locks fall the ground. Eyes went red and her body combusted. The shockwave from the change was strong enough to knock the chains off course giving Yang the chance to close the distance.

Her opponent retracted her blades and changed her stance ready to engage in close combat, but before Yang could make it something strange happened. The solid ground she was running suddenly shifted into something more liquid and when Yang step in it she found she couldn't step back out; it had hardened around her feet.

The girl in front of her smirked and brought the guns forward. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

"Emerald, stop!" The drunk said stumbling forward holding a stick of chalk in his hand, for some reason. He tripped over a broken piece of the floor and nearly fell flat on his face but just barely managed to catch himself.

The girl, now known as Emerald, gave Yang one last glare before holstering her weapons and rushing off towards the drunk, placing herself underneath his arm when she got there.

Yang took the time to test the strength of her encasing. It was a lot looser than she originally thought. A good four or five tugs would probably set her legs free. It would be a perfect time to attack while they were distracted.

A blade tickling the side of her neck stop her. "Don't even think about it," the red twin said with smug satisfaction. It was only now that Yang noticed that pretty much everyone in the club had a gun trained on either her or Emerald.

They only lowered slightly when Junior stomped onto the once again destroyed dancefloor, his face red hot. "All three of you get out," he spoke through his teeth. "If you want to kill each other you'll do it far away from here, and please do kill each other. It would save me so much headache."

The three teenagers were escorted outside at gunpoint, and then another two blocks away after letting Yang grab her bike. Once they were what was deemed a safe distance away from the club, they were left to sort out their problems by themselves.

"Tell me everything you know," Yang said sounding like an Atlas integration specialist.

Jaune rolled along his neck as he tried to meet Yang's gaze, but after a bit of unrewarded effort, he was content to just look up at Yang's chin with his head being nested on his collarbone. "You're Ruby's sister, right?" He asked like he was tested the words for the first time in his life.

"I am and I that's why I want you to tell me what's going on," she repeated. "What is a Silver-Eyed Warrior? Why can Ruby use that power? Why is she suffering? You obviously know something!"

The girl holding him repositioned them so she was between Yang and him. "How about you lay off! Jaune doesn't owe you anything, so how about you go deal with your own problems instead of pushing them onto someone else."

Yang wanted to punch this girl so bad. It would be easy with her preoccupied with her drunk boyfriend, but she managed to hold herself back.

Good thing she did because the drunk threw an arm up in the air as a signal to inform everyone he was ready to speak. "We'll help you."

"Jaune!"

"We're caretakers," he said, arm flopping down like the bones had been taken out. "This is something _I_ have to do."

Yang didn't know what he was talking about, but as long as he was willing to help it was fine. That was all she wanted. "I appreciate it. I'll show you—"

Emerald darted back just as Yang held out her hand, keeping her precious boy toy from Yang's reach. "Not so fast. Jaune needs his rest before he does anything. We'll work on your issues in the morning."

"But Ruby needs help now!" Yang yelled.

"That's too bad. Even if Jaune was in the best of shape it doesn't work like that. We aren't miracle cures. That's research and investigation that needs to be done before we do anything."

"Then let me come with you. The two of us can do the bookwork while sleeping beauty takes his nap. The main thing I'm looking for is information, anyways."

"Not a chance," Emerald stated without any room for negotiation. "An unhinged battle maniac like you isn't getting anywhere close to our house. If you really care for your sister then step off, be patient and let us handle it."

Yang growled not even close to being happy with the arrangement, but eventually, she caved. She wrote down her scroll number and shoved it in Emerald's face. "If I don't hear from you soon, I will find you," she threatened.

Then she hopped on her motorcycle and drove off.

* * *

Jaune was back in the penthouse, or he was pretty sure that was the case. The world was very fuzzy and spinney right now. The colors looked right and the couch he was sitting on felt luxurious, but what if it was just one of Emerald's illusions?

"Drink this," the girl in question said, handing him a glass.

"What is it?"

"Just drink it."

It tasted like slugs, and getting it all down was a trial in itself, but Jaune didn't spit it out afraid he might make the demon lady angry. Though once he got passed the taste he did feel a little better and could think a little clearer. The details of the world were starting to come back. His partner was standing in front of him and—oh boy, she looked really pissed.

Ending their vacation by accepting a job from the person she had just got into a bar fight with probably hadn't been the best decision he ever made. It was time for apology mood. "I'm really sorry, I should have asked you—"

"Where were you?"

"Huh?"

Emerald cracked her teeth together and her muscles stiffened. "Where were you," she asked again.

"I was at the club. Where you found me," Jaune answer, confused.

"You were at the club this whole time!" Emerald screamed.

It hurt Jaune's head and he winced to make sure his partner knew. "Why are you so mad? We weren't planning on doing anything. I don't see why it matters?"

Emerald fell back and stab, her mouth frozen in an "O" shape. She looked completely stunned. "Why does it matter?" she said sounding completely defeated. "I don't know maybe it's because a day ago the city was invaded by grimm and hundreds of people die. Maybe it's because you never came back and none of my calls went through. Maybe it's because I spent all of last night and all of today looking for you, fearing the worst, only to finally find you, drinking yourself stupid and getting your lights knocked out by a blonde brawler, but otherwise in perfectly fine shape What were you thinking! Why didn't you tell me you were okay? I thought you left me!"

Tears pricked out the corners of Emerald's eyes, and even with his impaired vision, he could tell that her arms were shaking. He dug into his pocket, in search of his scroll, in some desperate attempt to prove her false and wash away the five-ton weight of guilt that was now pressing on him, but when he got it, his scroll was completely dead.

Had he really been at the club for almost twenty-four hours? That didn't seem possible, but as he thought more about it the memories started to return. He had been so mad and so miserable after learning he was partially responsible for the breach that he didn't know what to do. Yelling at Roman had only made the feelings worse, and he just wanted the guilt to go away.

That's where the idea to go out drinking came from. Jaune had never had more than a few sips, but he knew about the drinks dulling properties. Now, he knew that turning to alcohol wasn't a healthy thing to do, but at that moment he didn't much care. The only issue was that he wasn't of legal age to get some, but he knew Junior's club wouldn't be doing ID checks.

That was how he ended up at the club, but I seemed impossible that he could have been there for as long as Emerald claimed. He'd be dead if he had been drinking nonstop that entire time for one, but the main point was that the club wasn't open 24/7. Junior should have kicked him out once he overstayed his welcome, so why hadn't he.

A vision of him holding up a pure white SDC card, and buying the entire club a round of drinks with it, gave him his answer. Jaune quickly slapped around his clothes looking for his wallet and by some miracle, it was still there with everything in it. Hopefully Whitley did bother checking what went into Jaune's "expenses".

Fragmented pieces of that night worked their way back into Jaune's consciousness. The club had been packed with people celebrating their survival of the breach. There was shouting and dancing all around, but Jaune never left the comfort of his barstool.

There had been many shots, the exact number being lost to Jaune forever, but at some point, the twins had taken to stay with him probably drawn in by his apparent wealth. They talked to and even flirted with him. Jaune talked too, probably far too much. He couldn't remember any specifics, but he was sure that he had let something slip that he probably shouldn't have. Whether they believed any of it was another story.

Eventually, the time had come where he couldn't drink anymore, and instead of letting him collapse and get run over by a car on the way home, the twins had convinced Junior to put him up for the night. He remembered one of them had led him to the apartments by the arm, but he couldn't remember anything that happened after. Did they get up to anything? Was Jaune no longer a virgin.

Jaune's cheeks flush, but he shook his head in dismissal. If something as momentous as that had, then he would have remembered. Besides the twins were sexy and flirtatious, not prostitutes banging guys just for their money. Neither of them liked him enough to go that far.

Still, the thought lingered.

What Jaune did remember was waking up the next morning, or it may have even been midday at that point, and feeling like complete garbage. It wasn't just from the alcohol, there had been nightmares. A sea of blood and mountains of corpses. Hungry grimm stomping through the red sea in search of wailing children. It was hell and it was all his fault, so with the crushing realization of reality hitting him, he decided to return to the club and continue his alcoholic marathon.

All the while not giving a thought to calling Emerald or letting anyone know that he was okay.

What a sad piece of shit that made him, turning to alcohol and ignoring the only person he could really talk to about it. What had he been thinking? The answer was that he hadn't been. He had bothered to, only wanting to react to his emotions. From everything he had been doing as a caretaker, he would have thought he had learned to use his head a little more but apparently not. He was still the same kid who ran away from home to try and become a hero without an ounce of training to his name.

"I'm sorry," he said, head bowed down low.

He didn't know what else to say to his partner. Nothing would make what he did okay. He probably deserved to be hit and yell at, and he was prepared for it.

However, Emerald didn't do either of these things. She just sighed and let her shoulders drop. It felt like she had just given up. "Whatever, I'm going to bed. Do whatever you want."

Her room door didn't slam shut. It was closed completely normally, but afterward there was the soft click of a lock being turned.

Jaune felt worse than ever.

* * *

There would be no sleep for him that night. He just couldn't with all the emotions and thoughts running through his head.

The alcohol was slowly working its way out of his system; Jaune having searched many websites for hangover cures and trying most of them. He still felt far from good, but he was functional, enough so to get started on the job he had from taken Ruby's sister. He may not have been in complete control of himself when he had accepted it, but he meant what he said.

He didn't know the girl well, but it was his fault that she had to use her powers. If he just hadn't followed Roman's orders then none of this would have happened. His fingers dug into the desk he was working at and he bit the corner of his mouth.

There was no way to change the past, but Yang had come to him for help and he was in a position to do just that. It was what a caretaker should do, help people affected by forces they didn't understand. That's was what he had set out to do from the beginning and he would do just that.

There was just one problem.

In both his journal and the original book there was only one mention of silver eyes. Jaune had looked again and again because he couldn't believe it, but no matter how closely he read the information just wasn't there. Not even the story Roman had told him on the scroll was included.

 _Silver eyes oversee the death of magic._

That was it. A footnote tucked at the bottom of a page about negotiation techniques. There was nothing that he could use to help Yang. Ruby would continue to suffer and he wouldn't have any answers.

Unless…

Jaune gazed over at his phone, charging on his bedside table. Did he really want to use his third and final call? It was so soon after his second one and basically about the same topic. He felt like he should save it for something really important. Then again what could be more important than saving someone?

Besides, Jaune thought angrily, did he really want to have a connection with Roman anymore. If he used up his call that would be it. He could forget all about that traitor and start again. He could be the hero he always wanted to be and not the apprentice of some heartless monster.

Not giving himself time to double guess himself, Jaune grabbed his scroll and dialed the number. Even with Roman in custody on General Ironwood's ship, he still got an answer.

"I'm not surprised often, kid, but I truly didn't expect to get a call so soon."

"Shut up, Roman. I'm just here to ask my last question and when that's over you and I are done. I never want to hear from you again."

"Going through a rebellious phase, are we?"

"Silver eyes. How do I stop them from causing pain to the person who used them?"

"So, this is about little Red. She exhausted herself and now she's paying for it, is she?"

"Just answer the question."

"I can't. I don't know."

"What?"

"I only know the story about how sliver eyes came to be. I don't know anything about how they work. I just know that nobody can reckless swing around a power like that and not expect to pay for it, and I'm willing to bet she'll be paying for a long time.

Jaune was speechless. Not even Roman knew. Was that it then? Did Yang just have to hope that Ruby would get better on her own?

No! Jaune refused to be helpless again. There had to be away. Someone had to know. "In your opinion, who is the most likely to know about silver eyes."

"Hang on there, kid," Roman seemed genuinely worried for some reason," I know since I didn't know the answer to that last question it doesn't count, but you really shouldn't ask something like that."

"Someone has to know how to help Ruby. I want to know who."

Roman sighed. "Fine I'll tell you, but just because I am doesn't mean you have to go. In fact, I strongly recommend you don't."

"Just tell me."

Roman sighed again. "If answers about silver eyes are going to exist anywhere there's only one place they would be. The ruins of Cryphilictal."

* * *

 _Memories of the past_

 _A young Roman adjusted his tie, looked into the mirror, clicked his tongue, and adjusted it again. But now his shirt had a wriggle in it and was that a stray hair!_

 _Roman put both hands on the counter and groaned. What was even the point? He may as well leave. He was a novice at best only invited as a plus one, nobody would care if he stepped out. It was better than embarrassing himself._

 _Patting down his shirt in a way that still left it unsatisfactory, Roman exited the bathroom. The Schnee mansion was impressive and the man who owned it even more so, but it was just too early for him to be here. Some of the greatest caretakers in the world, Nicholas included, were chatting in the library. He couldn't just casually join them unless he too had a spectacular achievement to recount or a new idea to discuss. Both of which he was severely lacking in._

 _Still exiting would mean going through the passage that was located in the very room he wanted to avoid. No way he could face anyone looking the way he did. Maybe he could use the front entrance this one time._

 _"Do you not like crowds either!"_

 _Roman nearly jumped out of his skin at the loud sound that had violated his headspace. He spun around, a stream of purple light running from his sleeve and wrapping around his pinky finger like a ring, ready to challenge the person that dared to surprise him._

 _What greeted him was a tall man wearing a suit, but was the sloppiest thing Roman had ever seen. One shoulder of the jacket was slipping off, the tie wasn't even close to being tied correctly, and his dress shirt looked like it had been balled up before being worn._

 _Roman already wanted to puke, but that wasn't all. The man had a juvenile nevermore chained to his shoulder. The creature squawked and flew about while trying to peak and claw at the man's face. He didn't seem to care, his aura blocking the attacks, but Roman could definitely see tiny scars where it hadn't._

 _"What are you doing?" Roman asked before he could stop himself._

 _The man seemed confused before he followed Roman's eyes to the nevermore. "Ah this, I'm trying to tame grimm. If I keep by my side at all time I'm sure it will get to use to me and become docile."_

 _Great, he was one of those caretakers. People who discovered the unknown world not through research or luck but through madness. The only difference between them and the insane was that they happened to be right. Roman wanted nothing to do with him and made that very clear in the way in walked away._

 _He didn't know why he expected the man to be able to take the hint. "Hey, I know you, your Randell's son, aren't you? Man, I get all my suits from him."_

 _Note to self makes sure to blacklist this man. Anybody who disrespected the merchandise like that didn't deserve to step foot in the store._

 _"So, what brings you here, to this world?" he asked._

 _"That is no matter of yours," Roman replied._

 _"I don't see why it can't be. I love helping out the newbies."_

 _"I don't need any help from you."_

 _The man sighed like Roman was being the unreasonable one. "Try to offer some advice and get shot down immediately. Well, don't blame me if you die. You know they say I'm cursed."_

 _"I would be shocked if you weren't."_

 _"Ha," the man barked causing the nevermore to increase its frenzy, "at least you have a good sense of humor. Oh, and also you can come out now. I know you're there."_

 _"Eek!"_

 _Well now you've given yourself away, Roman thought._

 _A teenage girl walked out from behind a corner with her head held down and a blush across her face. She was perhaps a few years older than Roman and was wearing a fancy blue dress that went perfectly with her snow white hair. She was very lovely and beautiful which were thoughts that Roman quickly had to purge from his mind. If he tried to do anything to Nicholas' daughter, Willow Schnee, he'd be dead before nightfall._

 _"Well, if it isn't the princess of the castle. What can we do for you?" the madman said._

 _"What were you talking about?" Willow said after mustering up enough courage._

 _"Nothing important. My friend and I are completely normal people nothing strange about us at all."_

 _The nevermore squawked._

 _"Anyways," the man grabbed Roman by the shoulders, making him want to die, "let's go back to the library and talk. I'm sure they're missing us by now."_

 _Roman was highly doubtful, but the man's grip was too tight to ignore, and so he was lead away. He only took one glance back at the girl, and for a brief moment, their eyes meet. Her's were so determined. Even pouting and looking about ready to throw a fit for being treated like a child she hadn't given up._

 _Roman admired that. He found himself hoping she'd stay like that forever. It'd be a fitting image for the daughter of Nicolas Schnee._

* * *

 **So, Sulfur got about the reaction I expected. Few people really liked him, but few people really hated him. What I actually got far more complaints about were people feeling like I was going to railroad this story straight into the main RWBY plot. Looking back at the chapter I can totally see why people would be afraid of that, but while writing, it didn't even cross my mind. It was just me having the advantage of knowing how the story goes.**

 **It was because was because of that that this chapter went on a little longer than it was supposed to. Originally it was meant to end after Yang rode off, but I bleed the next chapter into this one to hint at the next arc.**

 **As for anyone still worried about this story suddenly just following the main RWBY plot, looking over my story plan I can see only one more place where the stories merge in any way like the breach (it probably pretty easy to figure out if you think about it) and one other point where they kind of follow the same path for a brief bit.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Beta** : ShadowMester234

The morning was harsh and Jaune felt only a couple stages better than death. It wasn't even the alcohol that was causing it. From the lack of sleep and Roman's suggestion, Jaune was beginning to think that he should have extended his vacation from now until forever.

Cryphilictal. The word he couldn't get out of his head. If there was any place where they would find a solution for Ruby it would be there, and what a place it apparently was. His journal was full of information on The Seat of Dissonance, as some liked to call it, but none of it gave Jaune confidence. Unavoidable spell defenses, huge hulking monsters and an ever-shifting distortion of place and time were apparently all features of the city, but not always.

The only thing that had been made clear, from those that had actually been there, was that no matter what you learned, you were never prepared. That it might actually be better to go in with no expectations to avoid stumbling into a self-made trap or inescapable paranoia.

Jaune leaned back on his bed, the early sun rays hitting his face and causing his golden locks to shine. Cryphilictal, he repeated again, the city housed all the brightest dreams and darkest nightmares.

Though, from the way Roman spoke about it, it was obvious which side the coin usually fell on. It had been the only time the master thief had ever told Jaune not to do something, and despite Roman's betrayal, Jaune knew this advice was in his best interest. He also knew he would still be going. Yes, he was going because he was guilty about what happened to Ruby and Vale, but even more than that, it was alluring. The thought of going on such an adventure made his boyish heart beat with glee, and that was perhaps the scariest part.

Just knowing about it was enough to pull him towards it. How many other caretakers, or just regular people, had been mesmerized by the exact same feeling? How many had made the pilgrimage, and how many had the city swallowed whole?

He didn't want to think about that, nor did he want to consider that Cryphilictal may have already doomed him.

He got up from his bed, dealt with a splitting headache that made him pause for a few moments. Once it passed, he wiped his arm under his nose for any blood and thankfully found none.

He grabbed his scroll, half expecting it to suddenly start ringing with Ruby's sister on the other end. It didn't and wouldn't since while Jaune had Yang's number, she didn't have his. An oversight on her part, but only if he didn't plan to contact her.

He planned to, but there was someone else he needed to talk to first.

Jaune walked out into the main room and eyed Emerald's door just as closed and dead as the night before. What he had done was borderline abusive. She had every right to be mad at him, he was mad at himself, and yet here she stood knowing that he was about to make thing worse.

He walked over to the kitchen and started to make breakfast, hoping the smell would lure her out. Handmade breakfast should have only been the first step in his apology tour, but after it was served, he was going to hit her with what he decided to do about Ruby.

Him planning a trip to possibly the most dangerous place on Remnant was probably the last thing she wanted to hear. Any anger that had burned away throughout the night would be reignited. She'd just see it as a new way he was trying to get himself killed with her alongside him.

Because she _would_ come with him. He knew this to be true, just as he knew he wouldn't back down (Cryphilictal had already dug it's hooks deep inside of him). No matter how bad an idea she thought it was or how reckless he was being, she'd stand by him regardless.

Jaune didn't want it to be that way, a Mt. Glenn all over again. He wanted to Emerald to come along because _she_ wanted to, not because she thought she had to for his sake. If it wasn't her choice then it felt like he was just manipulating her. He would be playing off her fears of being abandoned, fears that were very real and more justifiable than ever, and that would have made him even worse scum than he already was.

They cared for each other, but how far that went was up in the air. Jaune had never worked up the courage to confront his feelings about Emerald that had reached a high back at Mt. Glenn. They're entire "vacation" had mostly been spent hanging out around the house and only going at every once in a while. Things that could be considered dates, like going to the movies or getting lunch somewhere, but could just as easily be events between friends. It was all up to how the participant felt about each, but Jaune didn't even know how he felt, let alone what Emerald might feel.

This uncertainty didn't sit well. He should've manned up and taken the chance, gotten Emerald opinion, and maybe try a more serious relationship out, but that time had passed. Asking her in this atmosphere, after he had hurt her so badly, was destined for a fight.

 _"Oh Emerald, I know that I didn't even think about you after the city was ravaged by grimm, but you know what. I think we'd make a great couple. Teehee."_

Yeah, he was sure that would go down well.

He flipped a pancake over and rested it on a stack of others, and right as he did, the door to Emerald's room creaked open. Jaune only turned his head slightly not wanting it to seem like he had been waiting for this.

Emerald wasn't the kind of girl who'd stand at the door playing should-I-or-shouldn't-I upon seeing him. She walked into the main room in her pajamas, which were actually less revealing than her normal attire, without hesitation. She looked a bit tired, but otherwise not much different than normal.

"Good morning," Jaune said trying his best to give a pleasant smile for her, "I made us breakfast."

"Thanks," she replied distantly and took a seat at the table.

Jaune's smile faltered for a second, but he didn't let it fall. He knew things weren't just going to right themselves in a single night. He had to work for her forgiveness, and he promised he would, but first, it was time to drop the news.

He piled two plates high with food and brought them over to the table. Emerald took hers without comment. She ate it slowly, almost mechanically. Jaune had never see Emerald eat so slowly ever. Her eyes never left the plate and she didn't open her mouth for anything but to let food in.

I was a very awkward and silent start to breakfast.

He knew what she was doing. There would be no screaming or hitting for his actions. He hadn't cared about her after the breach, so she was getting back at him by pretending not to care about him.

Jaune didn't like it. A quiet and passive Emerald was strange and foreign. This Emerald was practically a different person. It got to him on a deeper level, and in that way she was a genius. She was giving him a taste of what she went through, leaving him behind with only this stranger to converse with.

For a brief moment, he thought about changing his plan. That it would be better to work towards making up with her and tuck his decision about Cryphilictal away for a little longer.

But the tracks were already laid.

"I've come up with a plan to help Yang's sister."

"Glad to hear it. I'm sure she'll be thrilled."

Jaune smirked. "Yeah, I doubt that. Curing Ruby's silver eyes isn't going to be easy. It might not even be possible at all, but we have to try and that means taking another trip."

Emerald tried to hide it, but he saw how her hand tightened around her fork. "Where are _you_ planning on going this time?"

"A place known as Cryphilictal. It's basically a magical city that might have what _we're_ looking for, but it's extremely dangerous."

Emerald's eyes were as wide as saucers, her arm not even trying to bring her food to her mouth. "Then, I hope it goes well for you."

Jaune sighed. "Would you just quit the act. I know what I did was wrong and horrible, yell at me, throw your breakfast in my face, but don't do something that's clearly hurting you as much as it's hurting me."

"I don't know what you mean. I've already forgiven you," she said looking up at the ceiling.

"Emerald…"

"Now if you'll excuse me," she said, standing up and definitely didn't aggressively slap her fork in the table, "I'm going back to my room. I'm still a little tired."

The lock clicked shut again as Emerald left almost three-fourths of her breakfast behind.

For his part, Jaune just leaned back in his chair and ran his hand through his hair. All things considered, it wasn't a disaster. Emerald was pissed as he knew she would be, but she was only pissed because she felt betrayed. It was salvageable. Jaune just needed to build their trust back up. He had done it before.

It was easy to forget sometimes but the only reason he and Emerald knew each other at all was because she had just happened to steal his journal one day. They should have never become close because of that, but they did. If Jaune could get her to trust him from that point, then getting an Emerald that already knew him to open back up couldn't be nearly as hard—definitely not easy, but not unmanageable. He would have to think of something really nice to do for her. Something she couldn't ignore.

Jaune smiled, content with his thinking, and pushed his chair back so it was balanced on its hind legs. He just needed to give it time, and Emerald would be back to normal. Then, he could work on getting her to actually forgive him. Luckily, he had a lot of experience placating women, having grown up with seven sisters, where it seemed there was never a point when at least one of them wasn't mad at him for one reason or another.

With his relationship with Emerald now having a tentative solution, it was time to move on to the other problems. There was no point in thinking about what kind of dangers were lurking in Cryphilictal if they couldn't get there in the first place.

Jaune got out his scroll and looked for the only male in his contacts that wasn't his dad. It rang five times before Whitley picked up. He sounded a little groggy probably having just woken up. "Jaune? You need something?"

The signal was a little messy since Jaune wasn't at the CCT tower, but it was good enough. "Morning Whitley, I'm sure you'll be happy to know that Emerald and I are officially ending our break."

"That's good to hear. I was starting to worry that you were just mooching off SDC's money. I saw you went on quite the binge yesterday. I also got a bill from a man named junior about repairs to his club."

Jaune's cheeks heated up and he was just glad that Whitley couldn't see it. "An end of vacation party. It got a little out of hand."

"Of course," Whitley hummed, in the universal I-don't-believe-you-but-it's-fine tone, "so what can I assist you with?"

"Have you ever heard of a place called Cryphilictal?"

There was silence for a few seconds as Whitley thought. "Just that it's some ancient ruin on the south side of Sanus, I think, but since you're bringing it up, I'm assuming it's a little more than that."

"Much more. From what I've heard it wouldn't be a stretch to say it was the capital of magic, probably still is. I'm actually surprised you knew as much as you did."

"That's what a high-end, specialized geography tutor will get you; a bunch of pointless locations drilled into your head just because one day it might be useful to know. Unfortunately, with what just occurred, I can't really mock him. What is going on with Cryphilictal?"

"It's a long story."

"I'd love to hear."

"In a second, first I need you to find a way to get Emerald and I there, just like what you did with Mt. Glenn."

Jaune heard Whitley suck in his breath. "Give me a moment if you would." There was some shuffling on the other end of the line and then some typing before Whitley got back to him. "Yeah, it's just like I thought, that whole area is a no-fly zone."

"A no-fly zone? Wouldn't something like that be suspicious? Why isn't the ruins of Cryphilictal appearing on ever conspiracy network in existence?"

"You really don't understand, do you? There are hundreds of no-fly zones all over remnant. Grimm are vicious and aviation types are especially dangerous. No-fly zones aren't so much laws that have to be stuck to but highly incentivized guidelines. The odds that an airship returns from a no-fly zone are fifty percent at most. Usually it's a lot closer to twenty and the area you're talking about is an entire three percent. Now knowing what we do, we could say that it's due to Cryphilictal being there, but to the rest of the world it's just a place where a particularly nasty bunch of grimm have their nest."

Jaune wouldn't lie and say that the three percent return rate, which basically meant survival rate, didn't worry him—and that was only the air around the city—but he wasn't turning back now. "So, what you're saying is that it would be possible to get someone to shuttle us to the city as long as you gave them a massive danger pay bonus?

"Maybe it would be possible if that didn't run us into our second problem. There's nothing out there which means that's nowhere to refuel. Maybe at one point there were some small settlements out there but people don't tend to stick around once a no-fly zone is deemed as such. Sure, there are some ships that could get you there, but getting back to any form of civilization with enough fuel just wouldn't be possible. As long as I keep raising the reward eventually I'd find someone willing to risk the odds, but not all the riches in the world is going to convince someone to make what they know is a one-way trip, and if someone did, I wouldn't be comfortable with them flying anybody anywhere—and before you ask, no we cannot just load a bullhead full of extra fuel until we have enough to make a round trip."

Jaune was about to ask why, but Whitley seemed to read his mind and had his answer already prepared. Even having just woken up Whitley was on the top of his game, ready to inform the ignorant masses of all the things they knew not. Jaune had nearly forgotten how much Whitley like doing that. "The dust that fuels airships is heavy, _really_ heavy. The more dust we load in the more dust we'd have to use to carry it all. We'd be hit by diminishing returns so hard that the flight time we'd gain would be minuscule. There also being the problem that transporting dust that way would be highly likely to lead to an explosion, and the airship would have to land to refuel, surrounded by the death, grimm, and wilderness every time."

"Okay I get it," Jaune said, sorry for ever daring to question Whitley's reasoning, even if they had only been said in his mind. "Just tell me how close you could get us with the pilot still having enough fuel to get back."

That was some more typing before Whitley replied. "Looking at the map, my guess is a three-day journey, by foot, from the drop off point."

Jaune had the fight the urge to suck in his breath. Three days to get there meant it would take another three days to get back in range on a pickup. There was also no telling how long they would have to explore Cryphilictal for before they found something useful. That meant it would be a week at the bare minimum before Ruby got any kind of help. Yang was not going to be happy with this information.

"Isn't there any way we could cut that travel time down?"

There was no typing this time, just the quiet hums as Whitley pondered the question. "I don't think there is. A ship controlled by an AI that you just leave there once it runs out of fuel isn't a good idea since, just like scroll signals, the connection between an AI and the CCT system gets unstable the farther away from the towers you get. Installing an AI entirely onboard isn't much better since it would be severely limited, and just because the path to Cryphilictal's no-fly zone isn't a no-fly zone itself doesn't mean it's safe. You'll need an actual pilot to get you through. If you'd like I could get you into an Atlas flight school, but as I'm sure you can guess, that's not something that can be knocked out in a week. None of these save you any time on the return trip either."

"What if we load the ship with a car or something," Jaune suggested remembering the motorcycle Ruby's sister had been rolling around. "When the ship drops us off we just drive the rest of the way."

"Well a car and it's needed fuel would definitely weigh less than airship fuel, but driving to Cryphilictal would bring its own problems. The sound of the engine would bring every grimm in the area right to you, and unlike an airship, a car is much easier to cut off. Assuming you, or the car, even survives the constant barrage of grimm, you'd have to take so many stops to fight them that it might not even be any faster in the end."

"Just regular bikes?"

"Probably be too uncomfortable to ride with all the supplies you're bound to bring."

"Horses?" Jaune tried as a last resort.

"Do you know how to ride and take care of horses because I don't, and I don't imagine they'd fare well in a grimm infested region with an incompetent rider either."

Jaune bowed his head in defeat. It was looking like they were just going to have to eat the three-day trip.

"Why do you need to get to this place so fast? You still haven't explained it to me." Whitley said.

Jaune, knowing he couldn't hold the magic enthusiast back any longer, explained Ruby's condition and how the only hope for a cure was going to be in that city.

"So, how soon could you set all this up?" Jaune finished.

Whitley didn't say anything for a few seconds during which Jaune could practically feel the reluctance to answer "Sadly, the truth is, I can't."

"What do you mean you can't. You got Emerald and I to Mt. Glenn no problem."

"If you recall that actually was a huge problem, and it's the same one we're facing now only much worse. Ironwood's fleet is still controlling the sky, and after the White Fang attack, Vale's council has given him even more power. I'm guessing you didn't notice since nearly a thousand-lien worth of drinks can leave you a little unaware of your surrounds, but Vale is basically under martial law at the moment. All non-authorized flights are grounded and the ones that are authorized are being checked thoroughly. Slipping you through this time around is going to be impossible."

"So, is that it? We're just stuck here."

"No, I'll figure out a way to get you out of the city. Just give me a little time."

"Time is the one thing we can't afford to waste."

"I know, I know. I'll think of something."

"Pleases do. I know you don't know this girl, hell I hardly do either, but this is important."

"I'll work as hard and as fast as I can. I promise that as your sponsor I won't let you down."

The call ended on that low note. Jaune moved his chair back into its proper four-legged position and sunk down into it, looking at the now cold food Emerald had left behind. They hadn't even started their trip to Cryphilictal and it seemed that fate was already pushing it out of reach.

Emerald would be happy even if she wouldn't say it. Maybe he should try talking to her again. Maybe he should just lay it all out there and tell her everything. It might be for the best since if they actually ever did make it to Cryphilictal there was a very high possibility they wouldn't be making it back. Confessing his feelings now, even if they were confused, might be the last chance he got.

His gaze settled on Emerald's door and he almost got up, but he never did. He just couldn't bring himself to do it under the current conditions. When things were back to normal, he promised himself he would go through with it.

 _Coward_ , some part in the back of his brain told him.

He ignored it. Instead, he looked back down at his scroll and held his finger over the contact he had just add this morning. It was time for Yang to know.

* * *

Whitley paced around what he called his lab. He did not normally pace, but he normally didn't have such a difficult problem that couldn't be worked through using experimentation or research.

The entire process of walking to and fro without a purpose felt nauseatingly undignified, so he quickly planted himself in his desk chair to break the habit. This only led to him to start unconsciously fiddling with the stack of papers in front of him trying to layer them perfectly on top of each other.

Whitley's lab was an office/guest room that no longer saw much use since it was located at the other end of the mansion from his father's office. It was only used if there was an overflow of guests, and with the way his father handled business and his personal life, overnight visitors were a rarity as it was.

Whitley had instructed the maids not to bother cleaning this room, but he knew some still did. Either because they felt his father's orders to make every room spotless outweigh his, or because they were curious what the youngest Schnee was doing in semi-secret on the far end of the mansion. It didn't matter all that much though. They wouldn't understand what was in here, and it would take a stupidly brave maid to alert his father.

The lab itself wasn't anything special, mainly just a bunch of tables filled stuff. To his immediate left was a computer monitor that was connected to nearly every auction house in Atlas. It was constantly searching for possible magic items, but so far it had been a lackluster endeavor. Whitley assumed it was because anyone who had a magic item and didn't know it would find it next to worthless and wouldn't bother trying to auction it off while anyone who did know its magical properties would never auction it away. On the other side of the desk were a few books that he was looking through that talk about the unknown world. He had recently discovered them in the Schnee library which probably meant they used to be his grandfather property, but the thing was, Whitley was sure that they hadn't been in the library before.

The rest of the tablespace was filled with two other computers; that were for more general use, articles and books; that were less credible source of information than the book from the library, strange items that may or may not be magical, the glass knife he had made from his sister's mirror along with a jar full of the remaining mirror shards.

Finally, off to one corner of his desk was a simple letter. Whitley took a break from adjusting his paper stack to pick it up and read through it one more time. Patients weren't allowed to have scrolls at the rehab center so this was the only way his mother could communicate with him. It was basically just a check-in to tell him how she was doing. The first and second week had been the hardest where she had been so desperate for a drink that she couldn't sleep, but she powered through because as she put it "wanted to _be_ better, more than she wanted to _feel_ better." Now, going through the day without a drink wasn't as bad. It wasn't perfect, she still got the shakes and sometimes went into a panic as she realized she would have to face the day without one, but it was easier to work through especially with all the people there to help her.

At the very end, she promised that she wouldn't give up and she would return to being the woman she used to be. A woman so far lost in the past that Whitley barely even remembered her.

Whitley smiled as he always did when he finished the letter, knowing that neither of his sisters would have gotten one. They probably weren't even aware she was in rehab. True, it wasn't like the information was public as Willow Schnee was housed at a very specialized and very private institution, but for her daughters it would only take a single scroll call to either him or Father to reveal that information.

He wasn't exactly holding his breath for that call. It was just in his sisters' natures to forget about everyone they left behind the moment they obtained their own sliver of freedom. Whitley knew that Weiss was ignoring Father's calls which, in his opinion, was a downright idiotic decision. Did she think Father would just give up or that her problems would go away? All she was doing was frustrating him.

Oh well, if she wanted to increase the pace in which she was deemed unworthy of being heiress, then he wouldn't stop her.

Whitley folded his mother's letter along a well-worn crease and put it back where it had been along with all the other papers and books. His lab was an organized mess, but Whitley felt more at home here than anywhere else in the mansion including his very own room. It was normally very calming, but with his brief distraction now done, his thoughts returned to the problem of getting Jaune and Emerald out of Vale and on their way to Cryphilictal.

The urge to get up and start pacing again nearly lifted him from his chair, but Whitley harshly crushed that desire before it could manifest.

Ironwood was a fool, but fools could be more troublesome than genius. The lockdown was completely pointless only severing to burden Vale. It wasn't like the general could stop air traffic completely. Commercial flights in and out in Vale were still going on, only now with having to go through an addition "safety" check. Seriously want did the man expect to find. He couldn't exactly discriminate against any faunus that arrived in the city, and weapons that might be used to support the White Fang would already be inside Vale. For Oum's sake, it was already proven they had control of the tunnels running under Vale!

Regardless, Whitley couldn't see any way to get an unapproved flight out of Vale without it being shot down immediately. That only left getting Jaune and Emerald out on an approved flight. Getting approval to send two, technically, civilians to an ancient ruin was never going to happen, so a fake reason was the only option. Using an actual SDC ship and listing it as a dust delivery wouldn't work since Father would have to sign off on those, and a ship that was supposed to deliver dust, but left Vale only to return to Vale without making any actual stops, which was what would have to happen, would be very suspicious.

It would seem the easiest solution would be for Jaune and Emerald to get on a regular flight to one of the other kingdoms and then fly to Cryphilictal from there, but Atlas, Mistral, and Vacuo were all in the wrong direction. Getting anywhere close to Cryphilictal required a takeoff from Vale.

What Whitley needed was an airship that could fly in and out on Vale in an official capacity, but were nobody cared where it went after the fact. Sadly, there were basically no airships that fit that description besides personal ones, and those obviously weren't getting authorization for anything.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. "Mr. Schnee, your father has requested your presence."

Whitley recognized Klein's voice and stepped out into the hallway to greet him. "Did he say for what purpose?"

"No, he did not."

"Then best not keep him waiting." Whitley straighten out his vest and tie and allowed the head butler to lead him to Father's office.

The journey was a decent one but Klein navigated the halls of the mansion better than Whitley himself could. Once they arrived, Klein held up the door gesturing for Whitley to enter. "Good luck in there," he said eyes shifting from brown to yellow.

Unlike Klein, it was clear to Whitley the moment he entered and the door closed behind him, that Jacques Schnee was very unhappy. It wasn't the normal grumpy that he had when dealing with the day-to-day operations of the SDC. No, this was the displeasure that spoke of a major issue.

"You requested me Farther," Whitley said, trending carefully but without hesitation.

Jacques crossed his hands under his chin as he took in his only son. "I did. Something has come up."

"May I ask what?" Whitley said even if he knew his father wouldn't have called him if he wasn't going to say what it was."

"Ironwood is petitioning the Vale council to cancel the Vytal festival."

Whitley recognized the problems immediately as his father expected him too. The SDC put a lot of money into the Vytal festival from advertising and massively discounted dust to power the flying colosseum.

Now some people might question why the SDC, the most recognized brand on Remnant that sold an item that most people couldn't really live without, would need to spend any money to promote itself, but those people were idiots who should be fired from any position they might hold. The SDC wasn't advertising its product it was advertising itself. With all the bad publicity, the media like to heap on the SDC, the Vytal festival was one of the few events where the company could drive in some good PR. The festival was all about unity and peace, and for everyone who believed in it, the knowledge that it likely wouldn't be possible without the "generosity" of the SDC would be subconsciously ingrained in their minds.

The festival wasn't just a straight lien for PR transaction either. The SDC still made money off the event because while the dust for the stadium itself was given away at insanely low prices the dust for all the things that surrounded the festival weren't. For instance, the fuel for the airbuses that took people to the stadium and back again, or the dust the participates used in their matches which were usually a higher-grade than normal to give the audience a better spectacle.

It usually wasn't enough to recuperate all the costs, but with all the extra revenue it really couldn't be considered a loss. With that in mind, it would be completely unacceptable for the festival to be canceled this late in the game. The SDC had already put significant lien into it, and Whitley doubted Ironwood or the Vale council would offer a refund.

"As such," Father continued, "I will be heading to Vale to make my stance clear against this nonsense, and try to convince the general to resend his recommendation. You will be left in charge while I am away although this only means rubbing hands with business partners and attending meetings."

Whitley so badly wanted to ask if this shouldn't be Weiss' responsibility as heiress, but he refrained only because it would irritate him further.

Jacques disliked politician, not because they were his equals _per se_ , but because they were some of the few people that could tell him no. His father was a powerful man in any kingdom, but his sway in Vale wasn't even close to the influence he held in Atlas. There was no guarantee that he'd be able to stop the cancellation of the Vytal festival.

He also despised leaving the SDC in the hands of anyone other than himself. Even if this was just a test to see if Whitley was fit to be the true heir, it obviously wasn't one he did because he desired to give it.

Knowing that, though, Whitley saw a chance to get everything accomplished in one go. "If I may Father, might I suggest sending me to negotiate with general Ironwood. I know you've had many heated disagreements with each other over the years. Perhaps a new face would calm his disposition and lead him to see reason both for the people of Remnant and the SDC."

Jacques obverse his son without emotion, but Whitley knew what was happening behind that blank look. He was weighing the pros and cons of sending his young son to Vale. On one hand, this would be an excellent chance to see is negotiating and planning skills and Jacques would be free to focus on other issues, but on the other hand, if Whitley failed the company would lose millions. But the company might lose millions if Jacques went, or the negotiation might fall through no matter who went, or it was possible Ironwoods proposal wouldn't gain enough tracking anyways and no action was required from the SDC.

And on and on the logic went. What Jacques final decision would be not even Whitley knew, but after a full minute of silence, Jacques gave his answer. "Alright, I will allow you to fly to Vale to try and convince Ironwood to drop his proposal or to get the council to vote it down. I'll send my personal secretary to assist you," _and keep you from doing anything completely stupid_ , he didn't say, "but I'll leave this matter up to your discretion. However, if you mishandle this then Weiss isn't going to be outed as heiress as fast as you seem to think."

Jacques stared into his son's eyes making it clear that this was his last chance to back down. Whitley did not. "I won't let you down, Father. I was the one to request this and will take full reasonability for the outcome."

"I hope your skills as good as your confidence suggests."

"There is one more thing Father. Since this is technically a diplomatic mission I believe it would be essential to have my own personal airship."

"As you wish. I'll make arrangements to have one of the private cruisers made free for you."

Whitley beamed, as much as a Schnee could. "Thank you very much, Father."

* * *

"So, how is Ruby doing?"

"She's not getting any worse but she isn't getting any better which still means she's in the worst pain of her life," Yang snarled.

She, Jaune, and the stranger currently inhabiting Emerald's body were sitting inside a small café. Jaune had hoped the relaxing atmosphere would help calm Ruby's sister down, but it didn't seem to be helping. She glowered at him from the other end of the table, red eyes demanding answers.

This was only broken when she switched her fiery gaze to a blank-faced Emerald. The reason probably having something to do with her hair being a few inches shorter now. Jaune guessed that Yang had cut her losses, and her hair, after the bar fight to even out her mane.

Maybe it was actually a good thing Emerald was acting the way she was. If she was being herself there would have been some heavy antagonism and likely a rematch. As for her current self, she was only concerned with eating the food in front of her, making up for the breakfast she skimped on this morning.

But for now, Yang's ire was focused solely on him. "Have you found a way to help my sister, or was your girlfriend just bullshitting to keep me from beating your drunk ass."

Jaune gulp feeling that his death was just one wrong word away. "It isn't a joke, I know a little bit about your sister's condition, but a treatment isn't that simple. In order to help her," here comes the really bad news, "we're going to have to go somewhere else."

"Where?"

"Outside of Vale."

"How far outside of Vale.?"

"Really far."

"How far is really far?"'

"Far enough where it seems likely that a three-day trek there and back is needed after riding an airship as far it can take us." Jaune closed his eyes not wanting to see Yang's reaction, but he could smell her hair smoldering.

Jaune was prepared for the whole café to go up in flames, but after waiting a bit and finding that it didn't, he dared to peck through one eye. Yang was furious all right, but it wasn't aimed at him. Instead, she was staring intently at the table cloth, her whole body shaking. Then she whispered in a soft yet commanding voice. "Do you know what my sister is going through? She has basically been put into a coma, but the nurses and their machines can't find anything wrong with her, so they wake her up to see if she' doing better only for her to scream in agonizing pain before she's put back under. They tried twice last night and once this morning, but the results were the same. There're competently stumped. They don't know what's wrong with her, and the only way to see if anything changed is to wake her up. It's awful to watch her be forced back into a world of agony, but what else can they do? It's not like they can leave her unconscious forever. Not that it really matters, I can tell that Ruby is still suffering while unconscious. The only thing knocking her out does is prevent the rest of us from hearing it. Six days is too long. I can't leave Ruby like that for even another minute. There has to be another—faster—way."

"There isn't."

"How do you know! How do you know anything? Who even are you people? Nobody else knows what's wrong with my sister, but you're sitting here like you have all the answers. You can't be any older than me so how come you can figure all this out while no else has a clue?"

"I'm sure plenty of other people could have put it together better than I ever could, but you're only talking to people who look at things a certain way. Emerald and I have a whole different perspective on the world."

Yang went quiet for a bit before leaning back in her chair a releasing a broken laugh. "So, it's magic…it really exists. I guess I already knew; it's the only answer that made sense as crazy as that is. Looks like the fairy tales were real after all, Ruby." Jaune was starting to get worried that he may have broken her. "Does that make you two wizards or magicians?"

"Caretakers," Jaune corrected.

"Whatever, is Ruby one now? She used magic, right? Is this all are magicians start out?"

"No, yes and no. Your sister is a special case. A caretaker isn't something you are, it's something you become just like any other career."

"Can you just explain it clearly already? How is Ruby special, I have to know."

Jaune sent a quick side-glance Emerald's way where she gave the only acknowledgment of the conversation going on in front of her so far by shaking her head no.

Yang might have already had a clue, but explaining to her exactly what was going on with Ruby would pull her into the unknown world completely. It wasn't really a matter of if that was a good or bad thing. The question was if Yang really needed to know. Her dedication to her sister was admirable, but the last time someone stepped into the unknown world to solve a single issue, it didn't end well. The cat faunus, Yang's partner even if Jaune didn't know it, had forced herself into a world she didn't really understand and stepped out the moment her problem was solved.

It was easy to imagine how Yang would follow the same path; do whatever it took to help her sister now and go back to her usual life when it was all over. The unknown world wasn't a place to just enter whenever it was convenient. It would be like teaching the rules of a complex board game to a person who only intended to play it once. Sure, everything might be fine, but it's far more likely the new player, who wasn't as serious about the game, would make mistakes. The other players would be hindered, and in this game, where a mistake could cost you your life that was a risky deal. Emerald had already paid the price for it once, so it was easy to see why wouldn't want to take the risk again.

Yet, seeing the desperation in Yang's face made Jaune's logic waiver. Sure, it wasn't really her place to know, but it hadn't been Jaune's either when Roman, despite the bastard he was, took a chance on him, and Jaune, in turn, had taken a chance on Emerald, even if it had been more of a spontaneous reaction than anything else. He couldn't say that this situation was different and that Yang had no right to barge into caretaker territory when he hadn't tried to enter huntsman territory, but that would just be a lie. His entire start after leaving home had been defined by trying to enter a world he knew little about by attempting to enroll Beacon. It could also be argued Blake was a liability because Emerald and he had pushed her away and didn't explain things properly.

All this went through his head, but what eventually sealed the deal is him thinking about what he would do if one of his sisters was going through the same thing.

Jaune sighed. He was already in a hole with Emerald might as well dig a little deeper. He leaned in close to the table so none of the other customers could hear. Yang easily picked up on his cues and leaned in as well. Emerald stabbed in her fork into her food and refused to look at either of them while Jaune explained. He told Yang about the legend of the silver eyes and why they need to head to Cryphilictal. He even told her a little about himself to help her understand the unknown world.

It was only after Yang pulled away, slack-jawed, that Jaune recognized how terrible he was at actually keeping the unknown world…unknown

"So, my sister is cursed?" Yang said.

"I wouldn't really call it a curse but yes."

"This all just sounds so insane."

"Trust me I know how you feel."

"And the only way to help her is by going to this Cryphilictal place?"

Jaune had to bite back the sour taste in his mouth as he chose his next words carefully. "Sadly, that is the case. This is something put upon Ruby by God the Death. The only place that's going to have something the counteract that is Cryphilictal."

"But it no guarantee, right? You might go there and find that there just isn't anything to help. What happens then?"

Jaune wanted to hide under the table. "Then it's over. Ruby would just have to get better on her own or…well, you know." The color drained from Yang's face forcing Jaune to quickly backtrack. "But, I'm sure we'll find something. No, I know we'll find a cure. I can feel it."

Yang looked at him seeming to determine how much she could trust his "feelings". Eventually, she accepted it probably at a lack of any other real option than anything else. "Alright fine. If this place is really the only hope for Ruby then I'm coming with you."

The glare from Emerald beat on Jaune like the force of a thousand suns. It was a repeat of Blake all over again, and from Emerald perspective, and to an extent Jaune's, it had been obvious to see coming.

The single male at the table squirmed around in his chair as he attempted to do damage control. "I thought you said it was going to take too long, and shouldn't you be with your sister? This trip is going to take at least a week."

"You've convinced me that there isn't another way, and I'm not doing Ruby any good sitting with her. If there a way to save her then you damn well better believe I'm going out there to find it."

"What about your team?"

"I'll tell them I need a little personal time after what happened. I'm not just going to run off like some other people I know,

"But you don't know anything about magic or what to look for."

"It doesn't matter. Anything I need I'll learn from you."

"B-But—"

"Listen Jaune," Yang said in a voice that reminded him way too much of his mother, "I'm coming along and that's final. I have more of a right to try and save my sister than you ever will, and if this place is as dangerous as you're making out to be should you be glad to be recruiting some extra muscle."

She wasn't wrong, but that dangerous aura coming off of Emerald was starting to mess with him, but then Yang had it too. Trapped between two beasts with no answer that could appease them both. Logic and emotion fought it out and eventually the thought that it was better to deal with the monster you know won out. "We'd be glad to have," he whimpered.

Immediately Yang's killer intent evaporated as she gave him a smile, that had probably melted many hearts in the past, and said, "Thank you. Truth is I was already making plans to hijack a bullhead if you tried to leave me behind."

Emerald's displeasure, on the other hand, grew immensely. She slammed her hand on the table, shaking glassware and alerting customer as the real Emerald came back in full force. "What are you thinking!" she yelled in Jaune's face. "We are not taking her along. We are not risking our lives for her sister, and we certainly not going anywhere near Cryphilictal!"

Jaune had Emerald's spit running down his face, but he was too scared to try and wipe it off. His mind was as stiff as his body and refused to think of words he could say. Luckily, or unluckily, Yang had no such problem.

"Aw, is going on this adventure too much for you to handle," she mocked.

"Shut up. You don't know what you're talking and this is between partners only."

"Oh, partners? Is that what this is really about. You don't like the idea of your boyfriend running off with a far more attractive girl for a little getaway. Afraid he'll leave you for good?"

Whether Yang knew it or not she had hit far too close to home with those words, and Jaune could already see the fight was going to break out. Quickly he grabbed a hold of Emerald's arm which was just strong enough to keep her from lunging over the table. He had to move quick though.

"Emerald, listen, I'm sorry about what happened, if I could go back and change it I would but I can't, and I'm sorry I'm making it worse by throwing myself into something so dangerous yet again. But this is what I—what we do. This is our job. Our vacation was a blast but it's time to get back to it, and that means risking our lives. It's not okay and it's not fair to either of us, but this is the path we choose together. If you want to stop I understand, but if we can't save a single girl then what's even the point of being a caretaker, and really if we're going to take on Cryphilictal, we're going to need all the help we can get."

Jaune's apology/explanation/reasoning came out rushed and jumbled but it seemed to work. Emerald roughly ripped her arm out of his hands but did not go after Yang. Instead, she sat down, crossed her arms and huffed a quick, "fine."

Jaune felt a huge weight lift off his shoulder. It still left a massive one bearing down on him, but it was a start, and he still had time to work it out. After all, Whitley still hadn't found a way to—

At that very moment, his scroll buzzed and it wasn't even necessary to look for him to know exactly who it was and exactly what it was for. Maybe he could just ignore it for a bit.

"So, when are we leaving?" Yang asked, sealing Jaune's fate.

Emerald looked at him and immediately knew something was wrong. Her eyes narrowed. "Yes, Jaune when are we leaving?"

Jaune pulled at his scroll hoping beyond all hope that he was wrong.

The universe was not so kind.

Sweat drenched the back of his neck as he was forced to answer honestly. "You two free for tomorrow afternoon?"

* * *

Whitley sat in aboard the luxury airship going over some final details on his scroll before he arrived. Out of the eleven voting members on the Vale council, Whitley had tentatively put them into groups. Seven were likely to go against the canceling of the festival, three were likely to support it, and one was up in the air.

There was a pretty good split for Whitley, but things could easily change. Ironwood hadn't made his intention completely public yet and the reaction from the people could swing things rapidly. It was why Whitley was meeting with Ironwood first to try and convince him not to push forward and avoid the battle of votes completely. It was only if Ironwood remained unmoved that Whitley would go to the council directly.

"We're almost there, Mr. Schnee. Are you prepared for everything?" Jacques' secretary asked. She was an unpleasant woman by any standards, but she was efficient and got the job done. In essence the perfect representation of the SDC's current brand.

Whitley put aside his scroll had grabbed a glass of water finding himself perfectly relaxed. "I am, I'm sure Ironwood will be as hard to crack as his name suggests but I think I can get to him."

"I have the utmost faith in you." She said it so dryly that Whitley found himself needing to refill his drink.

A few minutes later the distinct feeling of a ship coming in to land work its way through the cabin. Whitley got up and stood in front of the exit ramp door readying to greet Ironwood, who he knew would already be there, the moment the door open. Miss. Secretary was positioned one step to the right and two steps behind him fixing a glare to keep away the paparazzi or protestors.

"I still think it would have been better to bring some of the security personnel along," she said.

Not likely. Not only would an armed escort have sent the wrong message, something Ironwood clearly didn't understand, but they'd be a hindrance to the other reason he was here. The pilots were already in his pocket and knew of their additional mission, but Miss. Secretary was not. Whitley already had a plan to keep her busy while the partial trip to Cryphilictal was being made, but escaping or bribing additional personnel would have been hard.

None of those reasons he could actually inform her about, though, so he went with the simpler one. "There's nothing to worry about. We're as safe as we can be at Beacon." A meeting place chosen almost entirely because of convenience. Having a meeting onboard Ironwood's warship would have been a bad idea for a number of reasons, but Beacon was both easy to get to and was a theoretically neutral venue. In reality, both parties had chosen Beacon for their own proposes, but that was neither here nor there.

The door to the airship slide open and just as he predicted Ironwood greeted him on the other end. Also, accompanying him was Winter, his eldest sister, first one to fly the nest and leave him behind. He hadn't predicted her, but it wasn't surprising she was there. Having a Schnee on his side of the table might be seen as counterproductive, but they both knew that Winter was much more Ironwood's employee than she was Jacques' daughter.

Both of them stood in stiff military posture while Whitley proceed down the exit ramp. Not too fast to seem eager but not too slow to keep them waiting even if Whitley did want to see how slow he could go before Ironwood called him out on it.

The general towered over him when he reached the bottom and would have probably made a comedic sight if any of the students wandering around bother to pay any attention. "Good evening General Ironwood. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me today."

"The pleasure is all mine," Ironwood replied diplomatically.

"And hello to you too, Winter. It's so nice to see you after all this time."

"It's nice to see you too," Winter said although she didn't once look at him, eyes firmly look on Miss secretary, behind him.

"With all three of us at Beacon, we should really catch up. Speaking of which, is Weiss somewhere around here. I thought she would want to greet her younger brother when I arrived. I know this is more of a business visit but that's no reason to be rude."

"I'm sure she would have felt awkward cutting in on your meeting with the general even if it was to greet family," she said not giving anything away. "I imagine she is also busy with her studies."

"Yes, her studies. Well, could you tell her to take a break from those and give Father a callback. He's getting really sad that his daughter is ignoring him."

That got a flash of emotion from his sister, but it was gone before he could really discern what it had been. Dread would be his guess. "I'll make sure to inform her when I see her."

"And I will as well, assuming that she isn't avoiding me."

A heavy cough from Ironwood pulled Whitley away from the thinly veiled sibling quarreling. "Sorry to interrupt, I know you'd like to talk with your family, but I was only able to set aside a certain amount of time for this meeting. If you want to talk to Winter after then I'll be happy to relieve her from her duty."

"No apologies necessary General. I actually have an engagement after this as well, with a very important client of mine."

Whitley could feel the surprise from Miss. Secretary, no doubt fuming that she hadn't been told prior. She didn't say anything, however, as to not give away that she was ill-informed.

"Very well." Ironwood nodded. "Let's not waste any more time. Please follow me."

It was only a short walk through Beacon's hallways before Ironwood led them to a small room that was probably normally used as a study room when it wasn't being used to discuss the future of the Vytal festival.

Miss. Secretary didn't approve. "Is this the best Beacon has to offer," she scoffed.

"Unfortunately, all the main meeting rooms are being used by the staff and other parties to deal with the continued fallout of the breach. This was the best they could offer especially on such short notice."

"Still with someone as important as Mr. Schnee—"

"It's fine." Whitley stopped her taking his seat across from Ironwood and his sister. "Just because Father's wealthy doesn't mean people must bend over backward to accommodate me."

That seemed to earn a few points with Ironwood as he relaxed just a bit. "Indeed, I'm glad you see it that way, yet you sit here today asking for all of Remnant to accommodate you."

"Skipping the pleasantries, I see. That's fine since we're both short on time, but don't you think it's the other way around. You're the one asking for the cancellation of an event that has already been planned and prepared. People love the Vytal festival and you want to take it away from them."

"It's for their own safety. With what happened with the breach I simply can't allow the festival to happen in good consciousness. The people might not like it and they might not ever understand, but I am looking out for them. You, I dare say, are only here to protect the SDC's bottom line."

Whitley wonder if Ironwood was doing it because Whitley was so young or if the man was always this unapologetically direct. He supposed that holding two seats on the council along with being general of the army and headmaster of Atlas Academy made it unnecessary to engage in proper word games. "I'll admit, that of course am I'm here to protect the SDC's interest. Trying to make money is what a company does, but that doesn't mean that I don't care about the people. If I really thought canceling the Vytal festival was a good way to help the people, I wouldn't be here, but as I see it now, canceling the Vytal festival would be disastrous."

"How so?" he asked but with the look of a man who had heard it all before. Maybe he had maybe he hadn't but Whitley felt he had been a little more creative on his talking points.

"Economical to begin with, and no not just to the SDC. Many companies will be hit hard if the Vytal festival is canceled. Small ones especially won't be able to recuperate the cost I imagine they put in, expecting to accommodate a large inflow of people. I don't suppose they'll be compensated for any lost revenue, will they?"

Ironwood remained steadfast, but Winter averted her eyes looking just a bit ashamed. There would be no compensation and everyone knew it. If Ironwood even tried to suggest that, his proposal would die right there. If that council was going to be asked to basically pay for the Vytal festival no matter what, they would, of course, choose to still have it.

"This would only add to the commercial burden on Vale that is already in place thanks to your airship authorization policy," Whitley said, pushing the knife a little deeper.

"I'm aware that the economy will take a hit—"

"Only, Vale's economy," Whitley corrected, "since they're the ones hosting. I'm sure Atlas will remain largely unaffected. I wonder if anyone would think you're doing this to further Atlas' power and in turn your own?"

Ironwood's hand clenched around the table, but he made sure to keep it out of Whitley's sight. "I'm doing this for the safety of Vale."

Whitely taped his chin. "That's the part I really don't get. How exactly does canceling the festival protect the people of Vale."

"The White Fang isn't going to stop. They've recently proven that they are willing to go to any lengths to get their message across. With the Vytal festival being the most televised event on Remnant along with its purpose of promoting peace it will undoubtedly be targeted."

"Isn't knowing where your enemy plans to attack a good thing though?"

"This isn't a war!" Ironwood said getting a little angry. "There is going to be tens of thousands of people attending. We can't risk their lives just to gain a strategic advantage."

"But if you don't then the White Fang's potential attack area increase to all of Vale, where that are many more tens of thousands of people over an area that's going to be much harder to protect."

"It's likely that without the temptation of the festival they won't make any attacks. All intel points to Roman Torchwick being responsible for organizing the breach. With him capture the White Fang has lost a lot of logistical and organizational power."

"Do you really think that matters. It clear that at least this sect of the White Fang has gone completely off the deep end. Their message is about faunus equality and blaming the SDC for all their problems. Attacking Vale helps neither of those causes. They're fanatics that will attack again. Torchwick or no Torchwick. Festival or no festival."

Ironwood didn't have any good reply to that point, so it was up to Winter to aid him. "Whitley, I hope you don't take this the wrong way, but you are not part of the military. You don't understand how this works or what thought goes into our decisions. I think you should let us decide how we handle the White Fang."

It took all of Whitley's willpower to keep himself from rolling his eyes. Winter really would have been better off by just sitting there like a statue and letting the important people talk. Her distraction did give Ironwood a chance to think up a response; though, so he guessed she was being a good little dog. Maybe she would even get a treat afterward.

"You're probably right about that, but it still doesn't mean the festival should be held. As much as it pains me to say this we just aren't expected to protect everyone while they go about their day. At a government supported event like the Vytal festival, though, people will expect their absolute protection. If anyone is hurt or killed it'd be an international incident. I just can't take that risk."

Unfortunately, Ironwood, whether he knew it or not, had just stumbled into his best defense. The outcry that would follow if a successful attack on festival took place would be more than enough to sink many of the council members. The threat to their careers would be far more concerning than any threat to the festival itself. How many would flip over to Ironwoods side if he made this information clear to them?

Too many if Whitley's knew anything about politics.

As Whitley tried to think of a solution, of which no good ones appeared, his scroll buzzed in his pocket. He didn't answer or even look at it because that would be seen as insulting, but after it stopped after exactly three seconds, Whitley knew that it was time to move onto a different project.

"If it's the White Fang attack you're so worried about maybe we can do things to lessen the chance of an attack in the first place."

Ironwood looked interested which was a good start for what was essentially Whitely delaying tactic. "What do you purpose?"

"A speech from you and I, at the sight of the breach. If the people see the hei—an important figure of the SDC taking the time to address the concerns that lead to the attack it might convince the White Fang to take a step back, or at least convince other faunus not to join them."

"Do you really think that will work?"

 _Not a chance if anything it will just encourage them since they'll see violence gets attention._ "I think it's worth a try."

Ironwood nodded. "I was probably going to have to give a speech anyways."

"Good," Whitley said clapping his hands, "Sadly I have to go meet with that other client I mention, but I don't want to delay this any more than it has to." He turned to Miss. Secretary. "Would you stay and make arrangements with Winter while I'm away."

Both women looked like they just swallowed a lemon. "But Mr. Schnee I've been assigned to watc—assist you."

"Exactly, I need to assist me with something I'm unable to do. That is unless this task is a problem for you."

If Whitley didn't think her face could get any sourer he was proven wrong. "It's no problem at all, sir."

"That's what I like to hear," Whitley smiled. "I'll meet you in at the hotel when I'm done. You're going to have to find your own ride, unfortunately. My client doesn't live in Vale proper so I'll be needing the ship along with a good chunk of time."

Miss. Secretary looked like she was about to burst as Whitley turned back to his sister and Ironwood. "Thank you very much for seeing me today and I hope we will have more of these chats in the future."

"The pleasure was mine," the general said giving Whitley a firm handshake as they said their farewells.

Whitley exited Beacon calmly and collective as one would expect from a Schnee. He got to the docks without incident and saw one of the two pilots waiting for him. "Have the guests boarded?" Whitley asked him

"They have and the ship had been refueled just as you asked."

"Good, get us into the air as soon as you can."

The pilot didn't question the order and left.

Inside were two people Whitley was already familiar with and a third last-minute addition. Whitley would admit that she was a complete bombshell of a girl, but any fantasies were quickly forgotten as he observed the atmosphere.

Despite there being more than enough room Jaune was squashed between Emerald and the new girl, looking very uncomfortable as they alternated between glaring at him and each other. His eyes sought our Whitley begging for help.

Whitley sighed. He had a feeling this was going to be a long trip, but at least he just had to drop them off. Poor Jaune was going to be in for a rough time."

* * *

 _Black box recording over the skies of Cryphilictal (never recovered)_

 _Co-pilot: Sir, visibility is dropping rapidly._

 _Pilot: I can see that for myself._

 _Co-pilot: Sorry sir. Are we in a storm?_

 _Pilot: I didn't hear anything about one and all the readings look fine._

 _Co-pilot: It just came in so fast. It's kind of freaky._

 _Pilot: We probably just hit a— (interrupted by a loud crash)_

 _Co-pilot: What was that!_

 _Pilot: Something bumped into the ship._

 _Co-pilot: Is it a grimm?_

 _Pilot: I don't know. Just calm down and be quiet._

 _Silence followed by low groaning(?)_

 _Co-pilot: Sir, I think I just saw something move out there._

 _Pilot: How can you see anything right now? It's pitch black out there._

 _Co-pilot: No, that's it right there!_

 _Pilot: I don't see a damn thing._

 _Co-pilot: Oh my Oum…WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!_

 _Pilot: What are you doing! Stop it._

 _Sounds of wrestling._

 _Co-pilot: IT'S COMING RIGHT FOR US WE HAVE TO GO!_

 _Pilot: Stop you're going to make us crash!_

 _?: What Pathetic creatures._

 _Pilot: WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING!_

 _Sound of airship crashing._

* * *

 **AN: As I'm sure you all figured out, we'll be taking an extended break from Beacon and Vale. I know this will make a lot of you very happy. So, buckle up we're moving straight ahead in the Cryphilictal Arc, and it's going to be a long one.**

 **I've also played around with Remnant's geography a little for their travel time. I tried to be as accurate as possible, but that's kind of hard when there isn't really an accurate scale of Remnant nor is it really clear how transportation between kingdoms work (Apparently, Weiss can be forced on a ship to Atlas then sneak out to catch a flight to Mistral, but team RNJR has to walk most if not all the way the Haven) and we're never going to get an expiation on how airship fuel works compared to regular dust if there even is a difference, so we're just to follow more or less Earth rules with a little liberty to help the story. Not a big deal but I wanted to mention it.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Beta** : ShadowMeister234

If anyone needed a reminder of how rich the Schnee family actually was, they wouldn't have to look any further than this luxury airship. It was amazing just how much stuff you could fit in such a relatively small space and still have it be comfortable. Jaune wasn't even experiencing his usual motion sickness. The chairs were so soft and cool that Jaune knew he could doze off like a baby if he wanted to. It would have been the perfect thing to do before having to rough it in the wilderness for the next couple of days.

Shame he couldn't. While the girls had ceased squishing him between them like a guarded prisoner, the glaring hadn't stopped. It wasn't constant but everyone once in a while one of them would look up from their separate corners of the airship, see the other, audible scoff, then go back to whatever it was they were doing. Normally that would have meant he had to play mediator, but with Emerald and him not exactly best friends at the moment, there wasn't much he could mediate.

His gaze drifted over to Yang, who wasn't quite shadow boxing but was silently practicing her jabs, and once again wondered if he had made the right call. From a purely combat perspective, it made all the sense in the world to add to their fighting force, and whether Emerald liked it or not, there was no denying Yang was a powerhouse.

But on the social side of things, that was a mess. Obviously, the girls didn't like each other, having gotten off on the wrong foot and it only getting worse from there. For Yang's opinions on him, it was harder to tell. He didn't think she hated him or even disliked him, but they weren't any more of friends to each other than he was to the pilots in the cockpit. The only reason they were together was because their goals aligned. There was no loyalty between them and that lead to distance which, given the circumstances, probably led to some distrust. Yang probably thought he was still hiding something from her, and in a way, she was right. It was partially his fault that Ruby was suffering, after all

Emerald was much less complicated but no less troubling. She loathed that he had brought Yang along. She probably believed that he had chosen this new girl over her. That wasn't true. Letting Yang come along didn't have to change anything between the two of them. They were still partners, it was just the situation required some flexibility. Emerald wouldn't see it that way, though. She felt the way she felt and there wasn't anything Jaune could say to change that. She didn't even want to be here in the first place, but she was because Jaune had gone and done the one thing he really hadn't wanted to. He had played with her emotion to get her on board. She was only here because she felt she had to be. To her, Yang had just been another ploy to force her to stay in line.

So, had he made the right choice? Were the support and power worth the tradeoff in relationships and cohesiveness? People might praise the power of teamwork but individual strength shouldn't be dismissed. So, was a shaky three better than a solid two?

Jaune didn't know and supposed he wouldn't until they either made it back or became bloody smear somewhere along the way. What he did know was that a solid three was definitely better than either of the prior. At the very least he hoped they could put their differences aside in the heat of battle, but even that, he knew, would take some work to get to.

Turning to his one solace in this raging storm, he asked Whitley if he had any suggestions, in a tone quiet enough to not alert the girls.

"Yeah, having two girls fighting over you is going to cause some problems. I'm very familiar."

"That's not at all what's going on here, and how are you familiar with girls fighting over you, aren't you like thirteen?"

"I'm fourteen and will be fifteen in a few months, and I think it should be obvious why I have so much experience. There are many advantages to securing a marriage or even just the attention of the future head of the SDC."

"Isn't you sister the heir to the SDC. You keep saying she isn't going to be chosen, but does anyone on the outside know that?"

That fact that he was, in fact, not the current heir seemed to be a slightly sour spot for Whitley as he slumped over in his chair slightly now taking great interest in the fuzzy light-blue carpet. "No, they don't know I'm the one that will eventually be on top, but I'm still Jacques's only son. So, unless my sisters decide to expand their sexual preferences, or someone wants to take a shot at seducing Father, I'm the only option any female has if they want to work their way into the Schnee family. Even if they don't recognize that I'm the true heir, any connection to the Schnee family is attraction enough. Any type of girl you can imagine has likely offered themselves up to me on a silver platter at some point."

"You didn't take any of them up on their offers, did you?" Jaune asked, feeling a little inadequate.

"No, I'm still a pure soul if you have to know. Most of the girls I deal with are the daughters of business partners or other high-class Atlas ladies. They're usually extremely beautiful and all dolled up for the party, social event or charity function we meet each other at, but almost all of them don't have two IQ points to rub together. Most of the Atlas elite are very old school and only see their daughter as a way to secure a marriage and increase the family standing while the sons are groomed to take over whatever company their fathers run. The girls I normally interact with are unbelievably sheltered. 99 times out of 100 they're only talking to me because that's what papa told them to do. They've been educated enough to understand advanced economies and politics, but the moment you step off the royal red carpet they completely flounder. I sometimes make a game out of it when I'm bored," he added.

"Yet your sisters seemed to escape that fate. Isn't one second-hand to general Ironwood and the other training to be a huntress in Beacon. They can't have been that sheltered if they could make decisions like those."

"Despite what many believe my father is cruel not because he's racist or sexist, but because it makes sense to be cruel. The reason faunus workers fill our mines isn't because he dislikes them or thinks they're beneath humans but because with their night vision faunus workers are much more efficient which is all my father cares about. As long as he believes they're best for the job, it wouldn't matter to him if a woman, a faunus, or even a dog runs the company after he's gone.

"Winter and Weiss constantly complained about their lack of freedom, but they were given so much more than their peers. I'm sure Mother had something to do with it, but Father's contribution shouldn't be ignored. It a shame it backfired on him in the end, though, since both his daughters jumped ship to secure even more freedom."

"And what about you? Are you happy with what you have?"

Whitley smirked. "Do I look like I'm locked in a cage to you? There are plenty of ways to gain freedom without having to cast aside your responsibilities."

Before Jaune could say anything else the floor of the ship bucked upwards and the walls creaked which was all just a warmup that led to the sound of a machine gun whirling to life and the rat-a-tat-tat of bullets cutting through the air. Emerald only briefly looked towards where the noise was coming from before putting her head back down, and Yang didn't react at all. It was a very familiar sensation at this point. Almost all airships that weren't just for local transit were armed with weapons to fight off the grimm. Whitley's airship was no exception. It was fully capable of dealing with a few flocks of nevermores, griffons and even sphinxes if necessary.

The little scuffles had ceased to elicit much reaction, but everyone on board knew that the grimm attacks were happening with increased frequency. It was clear they were approaching the end of the line. Soon it would just be Jaune and the girls which actually reminded him why he was talking to Whitley in the first place since they had gone off on a tangent.

"So, back to what we were talking about. How do I keep Yang and Emerald from killing each other?"

"I don't think they'll go that far."

"You know what I mean."

Whitley shrugged. "Honestly, I'd just talk to them, figure out some sort of compromise. You'd be surprised how many problems can be handled with words alone."

"If I could I would, but Emerald's and Yang's positions are pretty opposed to each other. Yang wants to be here so she can save her sister. Emerald doesn't want Yang anywhere near us, especially assisting on the mission she doesn't want to be on in the first place. There isn't a lot of middle ground to forge a compromise."

"Then there's really only two options. Try to convince one of them to change their position. It's a bit late to try and stop the blonde one from coming along, but if you can change Emerald's mind about your new teammate that would help a lot."

Jaune's memories returned to the recent bar fight. Even if from his perspective, it was a blurry kaleidoscope, he still knew it wasn't something either of the girls would just write off. "Yeah, I don't think that's going to be possible. What's the other option."

"You just choose a side. If only one of them is going to be happy then you have to pick the one that provides the most benefit to you if they are."

Jaune looked at the snow-capped boy like he was speaking in tongues. "You're joking, right? I can't do that."

"I'm not. The SDC has to make these decisions all the time, and what's this talk about not being able to do it? Haven't you already figure this out? Didn't you weigh the consequences of bringing in the new girl? Didn't you think to yourself that while Emerald would be unhappy it wouldn't be a huge loss because she'd still follow along and you'd still get to bring your blonde asset along? The benefit of siding with Yang outweighed the loss of going against Emerald."

When he put it that way it really did seem like Jaune had chosen Yang over Emerald. Was that why he was able to ignore her opinions like what happened when Roman told him to go to Mt. Glenn? Had he been pushing the boundary of what he could get away with because subconsciously he felt that no matter what happened, Emerald would stay by his side? Was he treating Emerald the same way Roman had been treating him, just a loyal tool that he could exploited until he found a better one?

Just what was their relationship? Despite being stronger and probably a bit smarter than him, Jaune was the one that had all the decision-making power. Why? Because he controlled every luxury Emerald had in her new life. Their home and all their money came from Whitley, and if the two of them ever reached a point where they wanted to split up it was clear who Whitley would side with. All that combined with him being the one to "save" her from the streets, and it was no wonder that she was afraid he might abandon her.

It made him sick just thinking about it, and it wasn't just figuratively. He could feel some horrid bile work its way down his throat and drop into his stomach. It was physical enough that Whitley took notice.

"Hey, are you okay? Is your motion sickness acting up?"

"I'm okay," Jaune said waving Whitley away. It wasn't true, not by a long shot. He could feel the dread amassing inside him, but there wasn't anything Whitley could do. Jaune had to fix this himself. Bringing Yang along, at least in the way he did, was a bad decision. He knew that now, but there was still time to change it for the better, and he had to because if he didn't, the three of them wouldn't be making it back to Vale.

Jaune straightened his back, pushed his self-doubt down and gave Whitley a more confident assurance he was fine. While he was doing that his eyes caught Emerald's which weren't filled with scorn but with a bit of worry. She had probably caught his little breakdown.

Jaune wanted to tell her he was okay, and so much more. The moment seemed perfect as well. If they were going to have a heart-to-heart this was the time to do. Emerald's eyes told the same story, but before Jaune could usher her over, another burst of machine-gun fire ruined the moment. The focus was lost and Emerald quickly returned to inspecting the gear she would be carrying on their long trip.

Jaune cursed under his breath, but ultimately let it go. There wasn't going to be a lot to do on their trip to Cryphilictal besides talking to each other. There would be time to connect, for _all_ three of them to connect.

There had to be.

* * *

They had come to the end of the line. Whitley's airship had landed on a grassy plain after having peppered all immediate grimm with machine gunfire. Goodbyes would have to be quick since there were definitely going to be other grimm from farther out coming to investigate. The flat land that seemed to stretch out in all directions for miles would make it easy to spot any incoming threat, but that would be true for the grimm as well. At least their scheme of greens and yellows would be better camouflage than the harsh reds and blacks of the grimm.

"We'll try and make some noise on the way back, and hopefully that will draw a lot of the grimm away from you, but other than that, you're on your own," Whitley said standing at the cusp of his idling ship.

"Thanks for all your help. We couldn't have done it without you."

"There's no need for that. I'm only around for the easiest leg of your journey, and even then, it's the pilots doing all the work. I only sat around."

"I think you deserve some credit for thinking of a way to get us past Ironwood's blockade."

"That was more coincidence than anything else, but I'll accept it."

"Then this is where we part ways," Jaune said holding out his hand, "have a safe flight back."

Whitley grasps Jaune's hand with his own. "And a doubly safe trip to you. I imagine it's going to get rough from here on out. Do you still have that knife?" Jaune nodded. "Good, I'm not going to expect any check-ins since if what you say about Cryphilictal is even remotely true, I have my suspicions that the knife won't work any better than a scroll."

Jaune thought about that and realized that Whitley was probably right. Cryphilictal didn't seem like the kind of place that would allow such outside communication no matter what form it took. It wouldn't give up its secrets so easily.

"In case I'm wrong though," Whitley continued, "I'll still be listening for you at the same times we discussed at Mt. Glenn and hopefully much more than that."

Jaune cringed at Whitley's mention of Mt. Glenn and gave a quick look to see if Yang noticed, but luckily, she didn't seem to be paying that much attention, instead, focusing on adjusting the straps of her backpack. Jaune breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know if Yang would be able to piece anything together just from hearing about Mt. Glenn, but it was better to not risk it in the first place. He was trying to salvage this trio, not have it completely implode in the first couple of steps.

"I'll keep in touch if I can," Jaune said to his colleague.

Whitley nodded and waved goodbye before stepping back into the ship. Jaune, Emerald, and Yang watch it leave as it fired off a few rounds to attract grimm before flying out of sight completely.

Without the sound of roaring thrusters, the field became very quiet. All three of them were keeping their ears open for grimm but none of them heard anything. That didn't mean they were hanging around the landing zone, though. Machine gunfire on the way out or not, there were bound to be grimm coming their way.

"We need to get going," Jaune said to his two compatriots.

"Couldn't agree more," Yang replied.

And so, they did.

Each one of them carried a large backpack and the grass grew high enough to touch their kneecaps, but at the very least it was late enough into autumn that the heat wasn't unbearable. Hygiene was going to be enough of a problem without having to deal with sweat-soaked clothes the entire time.

Despite Jaune holding the map and compass, since of course, there wasn't a road to follow, Yang was the one to lead the group, once he pointed out the general direction, and she did so at an incredible pace. At first, Jaune was fine with this since he thought she just wanted to get away from the landing zone as fast as possible, but as they put more than enough distance between them and the landing zone, Jaune realized that she had no intention of breaking this pace. They were practically jogging.

Jaune would've said something, but Emerald beat him to it. "Hey, bimbo slow down. If you keep this up, all of us are going to be run ragged within the hour."

"If your scrawny little legs can't keep up then feel free to take a break. I'll run on ahead to Cryphilictal and meet you when you get there."

"Yeah right, you don't even know where you're going."

Far from slowing down, Yang appeared to increase her speed. Emerald refused to match it, though and started to fall behind. Jaune decided to do the same. Yang's lead increased drastically, but she did make sure that the distance between them wasn't great enough to where she wouldn't be able to tell if they needed to change directions.

"Emerald we need to talk," Jaune said knowing this was as alone as they were ever likely to get out here.

Emerald didn't respond and instead turned her head away from him.

"Still giving me the silent treatment? That's not going to work anymore, I literally just saw you talk."

 _"It's not that I can't speak. I just don't want to speak to you."_

It was Emerald's voice, but her lips never moved. "Seriously," Jaune exclaimed, "you're going to use your semblance to talk to me. That's completely childish."

 _"If it gets on your nerves then it's fine."_

Jaune wanted to stick out his leg and trip her, but he held himself back. Getting angry and retaliating wouldn't help anything. He needed to be compassionate and get Emerald to forgive him.

"I'm really sorry about this, Emerald."

Emerald rolled her eyes in a way he was clearly meant to see. _"No, you aren't. If you were truly sorry we wouldn't be here in the first place."_

"I don't think that's very fair."

 _"No, what isn't fair is you dragging us out here because you feel guilty. Roman was going to find a way to cause that incident regardless if you helped or not. You aren't any more responsible for what happened than the people who dug those tunnels in the first place. Other people's problems aren't your responsibility. It's time to get over yourself."_

"It's not that easy."

 _"Why not!"_

Jaune clenched his fist. This was just turning into another fight and he didn't want that. "Fine, maybe you're right. Maybe we're only here because I'm too busy pretending the world revolves around me, but we're here now and nothing is going to change that. So instead of fixating on the past let's look towards the future."

 _"That sounds exactly like what some abusive husband would say after blowing all the money on alcohol and gambling."_

Jaune couldn't hide his chuckle. "Those are the types of mean spirited jokes that come from the Emerald I know."

For just a moment Emerald smirked, but quickly covered it as she remembered she was supposed to be mad at him, but within that fleeting smile, Jaune saw his opening. "Is there anything I can do you make it up to you."

 _"Getting rid of that other blonde would be a nice start."_

"You know I can't do that. We're supposed to try and get along."

 _"You're more delusion than I thought if you think that's ever going to happen. It's obvious she's in this for herself. The two of us are just the people she has to put up with. Look no further than this miserable pace she's set."_

"She's just worried about her sister. I'm sure she'll calm down after a little bit."

 _"I doubt it. She reckless, abrasive and clearly does more thinking with her fists than her head. She tried to kill you at Junior's bar just because you might have had some information. That goes way beyond being a protective sister. It's psychotic."_

"It wasn't that serious."

 _"It was. You just don't want to, or were too drunk to believe it."_

Jaune ran his hand through his hair. "Listen, can you just promise me that you'll try to get along with her."

 _"Can you promise me—guarantee me—that you won't force yourself to take these insane trips ever again just because something bad happens."_

Jaune wanted to. He really did, but he knew Emerald would be able to see through it. If something like the breach were to ever happen again and someone needed his help, he didn't think even a promise to Emerald could stop him from trying. He had always wanted to be a hero, and now that he had the chance to be one he didn't want a single chance to slip by.

Emerald understood all this, which was why she knew Jaune wouldn't make that promise. A person who tried to fake their way into Beacon and accepted indoctrination into the unknown world by Roman Torchwick of all people wasn't someone that could just push their nature aside so easily.

It was something that Emerald really liked about Jaune and he wouldn't be him without it, but she did wish he would take a little more care of himself. He could be so clever when he wanted to be, but the moment his passion got the better of him, and he decided to throw himself into the deep end there didn't seem to be anything that could stop him. She feared that one day he would throw himself too far and not be able to swim back to shore.

For all she knew that day had already come.

 _"Just forget about it." S_ he told Jaune through her semblance.

At least he had the decency to look somewhat ashamed at his inability to make such a simple promise. "I'm sorry," he said.

'I'm sorry' seemed to be the only thing he was able to say lately. If he was really sorry then he needed to prove it. Actions spoke louder than words, and for someone who had grown up on the streets, that phrase meant double for Emerald.

Jaune might have tried to continue the conversations, as one of the Arc's worst traits seemed to be to never take the initiative when he needed to talk to someone but never shutting up when he just needed to let things be, but Emerald's eyes caught something to their left.

"We've got company," she said with her actual voice.

Jaune quickly saw what his partner was talking about. A line of black had risen over the horizon. It was too far to tell how many or what type they were, but they were definitely grimm and they were definitely heading right towards them.

Jaune got ready to signal Yang of the oncoming horde, but she had already recognized the threat and was slowly falling back into their formation. The grimm were probably around ten minutes away from their position, so the trio continued to move forward while waiting from the grimm to catch up with them.

About five minutes later, Yang was only a couple steps ahead of the other two and had her gauntlets deployed. Emerald grasped onto one of her chain weapons, and Jaune had manifested his sword and shield. The grimm numbered about thirty strong and were all boarbatusks. It was a type Yang recognized from Professor Port demonstration, but even from this distance, she could tell that these were about a half a size bigger than the one Port had caged.

But how had this group of grimm found them? It was inevitable they would encounter some eventually, but this felt too soon. The sound of airship landing and taking off, along with the gunfire, really should have drawn all the grimm to it. It could have been that this pack had been going towards the ship and had just stumbled upon them along the way, but the boarbatusks were coming from the wrong direction and seemed far too locked onto to their group for that to be the case.

So how had the grimm found them? Jaune had the answer and he suspected Emerald and Yang did too.

Negativity.

Their group was a mess of opposing emotions that none of them could really keep under control. Out in the wilderness far away from civilization even their moderate negativity must have been like rigging the dinner bell. These grimm were the first to arrive but they would certainly not be the last.

Eight minutes after the grimm were spotted, the group stopped moving, dropped their bags, and prepared for a clash. Jaune squatted down with some chalk and started drawing an etch. Even through the tall grass and on loose dirt, he found it remarkably easy to complete.

Stakes of stone appeared in front of the charging boarbatusks like a line of pikemen. About four couldn't slow down fast enough and skewed themselves on the sudden obstacle but the rest were able to correct their speed and position to avoid that fate.

Next up was Emerald, who fired a couple of test rounds into the hoard. Most bounced off the boarbatusk's heavy armor without doing anything, but a few did strike flesh. One particularly lucky bullet struck a boarbatusk in its eye causing it to buck and strike the one next to it. Neither died but the collision caused them to fall behind the pack.

The charge was closing in at that point. On the open plain, there wasn't any obstacles or cover they could utilize, so Jaune and Emerald took a defensive stance and held their ground. They could give up ground and pull back if they needed to but for now, it was better to just let the grimm charge into their waiting weapons.

Yang had other ideas. Red eyes flaring and gauntlet's loaded, the brawler charged in looking to meet the grimm head-on.

Emerald hissed and charged forward herself, knowing that Yang was going to get swarmed if she went in alone. Jaune followed sword at the ready, after realizing that if tried to stay behind and use his etches for support, he would be just as likely to hit the girls as he was any of the grimm.

The boarbatusks in the front of the pack curled up into balls and started spinning towards the group of humans, tearing up dirt and grass as the now spinning wheels of death gained speed. Yang was the first to greet the grimms' charge and without hesitation punched one of the boarbatusk while it was still spinning. Its heavy bone-plated armor didn't do a thing to protect it against Yang's gauntlet and the accompanying shotgun blast. It's mask shatter and black mist poured from its wound.

At that point, it was likely already dead but Yang wasn't finished. She juggled it in the air with two more punches, each followed by another shotgun blast, until she used one final shotgun enhanced punch to send the now certainly dead grim into another.

"Yeah! That's right. Who else wants a piece of me?" Yang yelled out her war cry.

It was a frenzy from that point forward. Boarbatusks bore down on the group from every direction as those that had missed their first pass came back around from the other side. Dirt and dust were being kicked up at every turn making it hard to see through the already frantic scene and the whirl of noise the many boarbatusk produced while rolling around was ear grating.

The head-to-head melee was only helping out the grimm with their superior numbers and mobility, yet no one could break off. Jaune and Yang both lacked any real ranged options and Emerald had already discovered bullets were of little help. She couldn't even detach her blades for fear of the chain getting caught somewhere in the wild fray. If their foes were any more intelligent they could have pushed their advantage, but as they were, they were only rolling around until they hit something or something hit them.

Emerald's strategy was simply to sidestep any death wheel that came her way and slashed their side as they passed. It usually wasn't a death blow but it slowed them down and made them much easier to kill if they came back around. Staying in relatively the same place also made it more likely that two or more of the boarbatusks would crash into each other when they charged after her. At the speed they were going a collision into their brethren could easily be fatal for both of them. If they were lucky the grimm might trim down their numbers all on their own.

Jaune, on the other hand, wasn't nimble enough to avoid every grimm that came his way nor was he strong enough to brute force his way through their armor like Yang. A few months under Emerald's tutelage could never put him at the level of those two or any other huntsman-in-training for that matter.

He had no choice but to take the boarbatusks' charge head-on.

One rammed into his shield and making his arm tremor, but the impact knocked the grimm out of its curl. Before it could properly get its footing, Jaune went low and slashed at one of its legs trying to get it to tip over. The plan worked letting Jaune slice through the underside of its neck when its leg gave out.

The victory was short-lived, however, when a boarbatusk crashed into his side, hitting him with what felt like the weight of a truck. He hit the ground, bounced a few times, then skidded to a stop.

The hit hadn't come because Jaune had been neglectful or careless. The grimm that had hit him had flown out of nowhere and, in fact, had already been dead as evidenced by the already mostly evaporated corpse that was half laying on him.

Fighting through the blurriness in his vision he saw exactly where the grimm had come from. Yang was sending grimm corpses all over the place as the boxer deliver one devastating shotgun punch after another. Her straightforward aggression seemed to draw more grimm towards her, but she didn't seem to care. Even when a boarbatusk hit her, she barely seemed to register it, only turning towards the offending grimm and delivering her own blow that hit at least twice as hard. Even with grimm as large as these, the blows sent them flying. Jaune had just so happened to be in the path of the one that hit him.

Jaune didn't have a chance to think of what this meant for the stability of their party or even Yang's own mental state because before he could get to his feet, another boarbatusk, this was very much alive, came barreling up to him.

Jaune recognized it as one of the latecomers that Emerald had shot in the eye, but missing an eye didn't matter when all it had to do is rear up and smash his head in with its front hooves.

Jaune wasn't in a good position to bring up his shield arm so he had to settle by blocking with his sword. Metal rang out as the Grimm's hoofs collided with his sword, but Crocea Mors, and his arm, held strong.

That wasn't going to be the case for long, however.

As the grimm put more of its weight onto him, he could feel the sword slipping from his grasp. Jaune wasn't worried though. He might not have the raw skill of either of his companions but he had ways to make up for it.

By doing different hand signs or actions he could retrieve either his sword, shield or journal from the Apeiron, but on the other end of that trick was his ability to put them back. For his journal, all he had to do was close the book. For his sword and shield, the action was even simpler.

He let go.

One of the very first things Emerald had drilled into his head was to never lose his weapon, so when he set this all up he figured he might as well make that impossible. The moment all his finger left the hilt of his sword it disappeared, but a moment later, after adjusting his finger so they were shaped as if he was holding a grenade, his shield appeared in its place.

The transition while not instantaneous had been quick enough to where the boarbatusk wasn't able to push through. Now it was pressing down on his much sturdier shield, but more importantly, it's stomach was exposed, and with his free hand now holding a sword instead of a shield there was nothing stopping him.

Crocea Mors plunged into the grimm's body and it squealed as it tried to dislodge the offending object. Its struggles only caused the blade to puncture deeper into its body until finally, its struggles ceased.

Jaune pushed the corpse off him and got back to his feet prepared to join the battle once again, but nothing significant really happened after that. The tide was already turning to their favor by the time he got up since the more they thinned the horde the easier it was to carve through the ones that remained. It wasn't until the last grimm fell that Jaune noticed something that worried him.

Yang ended the battle by dislodging all the spent shotgun shells from her gauntlet. They shot off her weapon, dramatically, and rained to the ground, joining their siblings. Every punch she had thrown had used one of those little red casings even if she hadn't needed to. How many had she used? How many did she have?

Was she even thinking about her limited ammo?

From the way, she casually dismissed her discarded shells, Jaune didn't think so.

If she didn't hold back she would run out long before they reached Cryphilictal, and that was the place she would need them most. He needed to talk to her—about a lot of things but this included—because this had only been one grimm encounter, and there would be more, with the negativity their group was spewing it was impossible for there not to be.

* * *

They dealt with two more grimm packs before they came across a small stream and Jaune decided he needed to call a halt. Despite the grimm attacks Yang had only slightly slowed down her pace and still kept a fair distance in front of Emerald and him never leaving him a chance to discuss the grimm she threw at him or her ammo wasting practices. At least she hadn't blown as much during rounds two and three, but whether that was because of intention or coincidence Jaune couldn't say.

Of course, Yang being so far ahead didn't hear him. It wasn't until after she hopped the stream and turned around to see them not following her, that she stomped back over. Jaune could feel Emerald's desire for a fight and stepped in front of her in hopes Yang wouldn't notice it.

"Why did you stop?" the other blonde questioned.

"We need to make camp," Jaune replied as diplomatically as he could.

First Yang looked shocked, like she couldn't believe such a thing was even possible, then she got angry. "What do you mean set up camp. We've barely started traveling."

True they had been on foot for no more than two hours and despite the continuations jog Yang had forced on them, they hadn't covered much ground. Mainly because they had been interrupted by grimm probably drawn to their location specifically because of the negativity produced from their backbreaking pace. None of that was his main reason for his call to set up camp, though.

"The sun is going to be setting soon. We got here pretty late so it can't be helped. Tomorrow we can get a full day of walking in."

"We're not stopping because you're scared of the dark! We can push on."

Jaune thought he could feel his jaw coming undone. "Are you crazy? We can't go walking around in the dark!"

"Why not? I'm sure all of us have flashlights. We'll still be able to see."

"Every grimm in a ten-mile radius would be able to spot us if we did that."

"Then we just kill them?"

"How can you even call yourself a huntress if—" Jaune wanted to say more but at that moment his vision wobbled.

 _Crap, not now,_ he told himself trying to fight against it, but there was no stopping this. His right foot stumbled forward to catch himself as he brought his hand to his head. The headache shook his body for only a second or two, but that was more than enough to catch Emerald's notice.

"Are you alright?" she said swinging around to his side.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he tried to pull off, but the few droplets of blood that drip from his nostrils and onto his upper lip discredited him immediately.

Emerald's eyes grew wide and she gripped his forearm preventing him from wiping the blood away. "It's still happening," she murmured. "Why didn't you tell me? No, never mind, that's exactly like you." There was a little bit of anger in her words but it was mostly disappointment.

Jaune could only laugh at himself knowing this day would come. He just wished that day could have waited a little longer. He had managed to keep his continued condition hidden from Emerald up until now, but it looked like the game was up.

Even with all the echoes in Mt. Glenn gone, his headaches were still around which meant the stunt he had pulled back then had screwed him up permanently. Although with cramming so many other consciousnesses into his mind, he had probably gotten off easy.

He had kept it a secret because was anything they could do about it and they never lasted for long nor were they as frequent as they were before, so he had just thought that it wasn't worth worry Emerald over.

Little secrets for little issues, as his eldest sister used to say. _No mom doesn't need to know that Saffron burned herself. We already fixed it so don't mention it._

"Is something wrong with you?" Yang asked, leaning in closer to get a better look.

Jaune used his other hand to wipe the blood off his lip and onto his pointer finger. He stared at the crimson liquid of a bit before showing it to Yang with a sad smile. "Nothing, just the aftershock of a reckless decision. We're camping here for the night and that's final."

* * *

Jaune was having trouble sleeping. It wasn't that he wasn't tired or uncomfortable, the two-person tent Whitley had provided them was actually quite nice _("the SDC's lightweight, compact and easy to set up camping tent can brave any conditions from Atlas' coldest mountains to Vacuo's hottest deserts, but still offers the same comfort as if you were still at home. Perfect for family trips, huntsmen missions or mining expeditions,"_ the side of the box had proclaimed.),he just had too much going on inside his mind.

Perhaps he had never intended to go to sleep.

He pushed off his blanket, which Emerald, who was sleeping a few inches beside him, snatched up like it was her lifeblood, and opened the flap door to go outside.

A couple feet away from the tent a fire burned dim and low. It was kept that way mostly to hopefully avoid the attention of any grimm, but also because there weren't any nearby trees to burn, just a lot of dry grass.

Yang sat in front of the fire, her legs brought up to her chest and her chin on top of her knees. After having lost the battle to keep moving forward, she had volunteered to take the first watch. Jaune could understand that. If he had been the one wanting to push forward, he wouldn't want to try and force himself into bed either.

Yang wasn't slacking on her job either. She noticed him the second he stepped out of the tent. She just didn't say anything. It was only after he took a seat on the other side of the fire from her did she acknowledge him.

"Just because you're awake now doesn't mean you're getting any shorter of a shift, you know."

"I know, but I couldn't sleep so I thought I'd come out here to talk."

"There's not that much to talk about. It's been pretty quiet so far."

"That's not what I meant, and I think you know that."

Yang sighed and placed her hand on the ground behind her so she could lean back and look up at the clear night sky. There was a long silence lasting to the point where he thought she might just pretend he wasn't there, but finally, she opened up. "Your girlfriend hates me."

"She doesn't hate you. She's just mad, at a lot of things but mostly at me. I screwed up pretty big."

"Yeah, I already figure that. Mostly from your little speech back at the café, but also because you just seem like the type of guy to screw these kinds of things up."

"Wow, thanks."

"Aw, don't look so angry," she laughed. "I'm sure you're trying your best to make it up to her, and there's a certain charm to guys who beat their heads against a wall so much that they actually knock it down."

"That just seems like a really roundabout way of calling me headstrong."

"Yeah, that's probably right."

Jaune rolled his eyes. "Moving back to a more serious topic, do you think you could try and get along with Emerald."

Yang's eyes roamed the fire as if that housed the answer. "I don't know. Even if she doesn't hate me like you claim, that bar fight soured us to each other pretty good, and I don't think it's improved since then."

"Well, today you haven't been making it easy to like you." Jaune didn't think Yang was stupid. She knew traveling in the dark was next to suicidal. She knew how her actions were being perceived and the friction they were causing, yet she didn't do anything to change them. Was she just that full of herself, or did she just not care?

Yang gave a kind of half answer to that question by asking one of her own. "Do you have any siblings?"

"I have seven sisters, actually."

"Hrk!" The response was a familiar one to Jaune at this point. He waited for Yang to finish choking on the air and recollect herself. "Wow. Okay. Moving past that, you'd do anything for them right."

"I don't know. If something ever happened to one of them, there's six other to take their place, or mom and dad can always make a new one." Yang did not appreciate his humor. "Alright, I'll be serious. Yes, I would do anything for them if they really needed it."

"So, you must understand how I'm feeling right now. Ruby is in trouble and I'm sitting on my ass doing nothing."

"No I don't understand," Jaune stated, his expression stern, "because you aren't doing nothing. You're resting for the night to be prepared for tomorrow. If I was the one lying in that hospital bed, I wouldn't want any of my sisters to run themselves into the ground for my sake, and you know what else?"

"What?" Yang growled, her fingers digging into the ground behind her as her thoughts went back to a dark path and a red wagon.

"I would want them to get help from as many people as they could." Yang's breath hitched and for a long time the only sounds the two of them heard were the crackling of the fire and the soft trickle of the stream passing them by. "We may not be friends, but you need to stop treating us like we're your enemies. It might not be for the same reason but the three of us share the same goal, the fact that we're out here should prove that. I think it's time to trust us a little more."

The soft crunch of dirt interrupted anything reply Yang might have had. Jaune nearly summoned his sword before he saw who was approaching. "Looks like the gang's all here," he said.

"Might as well. I was never going to get back to sleep with you two out here yapping away," Emerald said, taking a seat next to Jaune.

"We weren't being that loud," Jaune said since it was the truth.

"It was loud enough," Emerald sent Yang a dirty look to which she returned, but without as much heat as before Jaune noticed.

"So, what were the two of you gossiping about?" Emerald asked.

"We were talking about how we're all on the same team and it would be better to be a little _nicer_ to each other," Jaune emphasized.

"I'm out here, aren't I? Isn't that being nice enough?" Jaune wished he could tell if that was directed at him or Yang. Luckily, Yang made that call for him.

"Actually, why are the two of you out here?" she asked. "I know you're caretakers or whatever, but neither of you has any real reason to risk your lives for my sister."

Emerald beat Jaune to it before he could answer. "Honestly, I could care less about your sister. I'm only here to protect this idiot from his own stupidity, and he's only out here because he has a moronic hero complex."

"Couldn't you cut back on the name-calling at least a little?" Jaune asked.

"I didn't call you retarded, did I," Emerald said with and all too sweet smile.

"And what about the Whitley guy?" Yang said, breaking them up. "I was pretty surprised that Weiss Schnee's brother just casually dropped us off in the middle of nowhere. I've always been under the impression that you would have to resort to actual torture to get the Ice Queen to do something for anyone that wasn't her."

It was Jaune turn to answer this time, but unfortunately, he didn't really have a good one to give. "Whitley has his own agenda. He's—let's just say he's complex. He is looking out for us, though."

Despite accepting that her sister had magical eyes powers, Yang still didn't look like she believed him, and sadly, he could understand.

"But his 'looking out for us' ended at the airship, didn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess it did," Jaune replied sensing a solemn shift.

"Be honest, how likely do you think it is that we're making it back to Vale alive." It was an answer Emerald wanted to hear too, so she turned to face him.

He took a deep breath.

"Honestly, I have no idea. Who knows what we're really going to find there? But if you want what my gut it is telling me, I don't think the odds are good." It hurt to say, but it was the truth.

The fire crackled as Yang threw some more grass into it. "Yeah, that's what I thought too," she said burying her chin back into her knees.

Somewhere far in the distance a nevermore cawed alerting his flock to a gathering of dark clouds.

* * *

Excerpt from book

 _This really is common sense but so many people seem to forget about it, or perhaps they never really understood it in the first place._

 _Nearly everything in this world is on a scale with opposite ends opposing each other. It's all relative of course, but the mechanics stay the same no matter what. The further away you move from your starting point the more dangerous it gets._

 _I'll use grimm and huntsmen as an example because it's simple and most will understand it. On the huntsmen side, they have their major cities and their academies which make up their end of the scale. Their strongest our housed here and it's a rare day for any grimm to appear in these areas let alone survive there. Further along the scale is just outside the walls and the major outlying villages. There are grimm here, but huntsmen can confidently cut them down with the assurance that their home base is close by. It when they go deeper into the wilderness, and thus further along the scale, that things get challenging. Out in, what I will call, the mid-ground grimm and huntsmen power are more or less equal. This is where all the real casualties happen and what humanity is essentially fighting for. It's after this mid-ground where the grimm's side of the scale begins and marks the point where the average huntsman is actually outclassed, if not in raw strength then in sheer numbers. How many starry-eyed huntsmen teams had been dominating on their side of the scale, only to take that confidence to the grimm's side of the scale and be absolutely decimated?_

 _My theory is that the most common cause of huntsman death is due to them underestimating a beowolf that was just a little stronger, and a little smarter than what they were used to._

 _But just like the huntsmen domain, the grimm's domain has its own layers, they're not as well defined, but at the very end of their part of the scale is what we saw call their absolute domain. The place where the oldest and smartest grimm roam. Grimm with enough power to go against even the strongest huntsmen. Of course, these two rarely met since they make their homes on the other end of the scale, and that's probably for the best. The scale keeps things balanced and orderly. It takes extraordinary circumstances for the scale to be shaken in one direction or the other, but occasionally it does happen._

 _Just remember any caretaker who's reading this passage and thinking of moving along the scale of the unknown world, for every success, there is a mountain of failures that preceded it._

 _That's just common sense._

* * *

 **AN: The first steps to the start of a long journey have been completed, and with it comes a whole bunch of character development. Hopefully, this chapter clears up some of the criticism from last. Jaune choosing to bring Yang along was made with sound reasoning, at least to him, even if it went against Emerald's wishes, but this whole mission is against her wishes so may as well go all in.**

 **On a related note, I once talked about how I based Emerald's and Jaune's dynamic off Emerald and Mercury, but make no mistake when it comes to their relationship Jaune has just as much influence over her as Cinder ever did. No matter how big of a mistake Emerald things he's making, she'd still follow him, something Jaune has been noticing for a while now.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Beta** : ShadowMeister234

Back on the airship, Jaune had speculated that a lack of entertainment on this trip would lead to a lot of talking.

He had been wrong.

Everyone was dead silent as the group moved through terrain which had slowly transformed from an empty plain to a bumpier region sparsely populated with trees that looked like they would topple with one good hit.

The silence made things awkward, to Jaune if no one else, but it was better than barely concealed hatred. Jaune had talked with Yang about her ammo expenditure and grimm she hit him with. The look on her face when she realized she had blown through 64 of the only 250 rounds she had brought with her had been both hilarious and depressing at the same time. She also apologized for hitting him with the grimm, even if it had sounded half-hearted. As a semi-apology and just realizing that rushing forward would do her any good, she had relented to walking with the group instead of ahead of them. That helped lower the animosity between Emerald and her which meant grimm attacks were less frequent, so although their pace was slower, not having to stop as often to fight was likely a net gain in the long run.

That wasn't to say grimm attacks weren't still commonplace during their hike. Just an hour ago they had been ambushed by three massive nevermores. Worse, the grimm seemed to get feistier the farther they traveled. It wasn't even noon yet and already Emerald's and Yang's aura was hovering around half while he still had about three-fourths thanks to his larger reserves.

There was some time to build it back up between fight, but it wasn't nearly enough. If they got too low, they would have to set up camp early and throw away some of the day. Judging from that map, they had the rest of today and then tomorrow before arriving at Cryphilictal around early afternoon on the day after. However, that was only true if they held a good pace. Cutting travel time for rest could easily add another night. It was something that weighed heavily on Jaune's mind and he knew did on Yang's as well.

Their mood wasn't helped any by the literal dark clouds hanging over them. The midday sun that should be bathing them in warmth was dimmed to a point where it felt like they were trapped in an eternal dusk. The question wasn't if it was going to rain, it was when. All of them wanted to cover as much ground they could before that happened and honestly, Jaune was amazed it hadn't already.

Still, even with all that, the worst part of the day was definitely the way Emerald was looking at him. She was watching him like he was a glass sculpture ready to fall apart at a moment's notice. There was still anger in her expression, but it was so muddied by her underlying worry that it was hard to tell what mood she was actually in.

"You don't have to keep watching over me," Jaune said finally breaking the silence. "I'm not just going to keel over and die."

"How can you be sure?" Emerald pouted—genuinely pouted—now he had seen it all. "Sudden headaches and nosebleeds aren't exactly signs of good health. It might be something a lot more serious."

"You're overreacting. I barely get them anymore and when they happened they're over in a second."

"You should still see a doctor."

"They wouldn't know what to do."

"You don't know that! Just because the cause was magic doesn't mean it can't be treated medically."

"Do you go to the hospital every time you caught a cold growing up?"

"That's different and you know it. I was always sick growing up and too broke to do anything about it, but we have the SDC on our side. Whitley could get the best doctor in the world to come to you if he needed to."

Yang, who had heard it all, chose that moment to chime in. "I think she's right. You should have someone look at you. The worst that could happen is they can't find anything wrong and nothing changes. There's really no reason not to, unless you're scared of the doctor that is."

Jaune lied. Yang backing up Emerald, _now_ he had seen it all. "Fine, I'll have someone examine me when we get back," he said. Emerald smiled and Yang smirked. If they had been a couple of years younger, Jaune was sure they would have given each other a high five. Nice to know that even those two could agree with each other as long as he was the one they were disagreeing with.

Things might have descended into another awkward silence, but his initial sentence seemed to make the girls a little more comfortable with just talking. "How far do you think we've come today?" Yang asked.

"Is that just an alteration on 'are we there yet' so it doesn't sound so whiny?" Jaune said, unfolding the map.

"Hey! I'm being serious. The aches in my feet are making it feel like we've been walking forever. I just want to know that we're actually making progress."

"Imagine how you'd be feeling if you were running at the pace you did yesterday," Emerald commented.

Some red crept into Yang's cheeks, but that didn't deter her from leveling a glare Emerald's way. Emerald's reply comes in the form of a raised middle finger. Jaune quickly slapped it away before Yang could take too much offense.

Yeah, those two were still far from friends. Baby steps are better than no steps though.

"If we are where I think," Jaune said, answering Yang's original question, "we should be hitting the hill by the end of the day."

"Hill? I don't see any hills," Yang said looking off into the distance.

"It's not that steep so I don't think it's going to be that obvious. I might even be wrong to call it a hill. All I know is what the map it is telling me and it's saying that there's a region up ahead that gradually slopes upwards."

"How detailed is that map anyways, and how good our you at actually reading it?"

The map was very detailed, almost absurdly so given the remote region they were in, and the sudden increase in his navigation skills were thanks to the notes that were written on the back of the map. It was like a quick reference guide, obviously done by a professional, explaining everything about the map and so much more. Whitley had really thought of everything. Without them, Jaune would have only been able to provide basic directions.

"I'm basically an expert," Jaune said earning and eye roll from his partner.

While Jaune was laughing to himself, he felt a droplet of water his nose. Looking upwards, a second one hit his forehead followed by a third on his eyebrow. The clouds would hold it no more; it was starting to rain.

The girls felt it too and looked to him for direction. "Let's stop for lunch and hope it's just a little autumn shower that breaks by the time we're done," he said.

* * *

The rainstorm did not break by the time they were done. In fact, it seemed to just be getting started. It came in sheets drenching everything in sight. Jaune had probably experienced harder downpours before, but with only a simple canopy for protection instead of a cozy home, this felt much worse.

The issues plaguing them now was if they should move through it. Their visibility would be limited, but it would still better than it would be at night. Yang had also explained to him that grimm, for the most part, were just like any other animals. They wouldn't want to be out in this either, so it was likely they could avoid a lot of them if they were willing to brave the storm which, of course, she was.

Emerald didn't seem to have an opinion either way, so the decision was left entirely up to him. In the end, he decided that staying in one place being wet and miserable would be just as likely to draw in grimm as anything else, so they may as well try to make as much progress as they could. With ponchos equipped (Whitley had really thought to pack everything) the group set out.

Many hours passed on their grueling trek. The rain didn't let up for a single minute. Jaune had to keep brushing his hair out of his eyes as it stuck to his face in an uncomfortable manner. Emerald and especially Yang probably had it worse in that regard, but that knowledge didn't help alleviate his discomfort. What he wouldn't give to still have his cozy Pumpkin Pete hoodie.

Mud splashed onto the bottom of his pants as the ground was so wet that it was like there were wading through a marsh. It slowed them down and exhausted them, but true to Yang's word they hadn't encounter any grimm since they left, but if Jaune knew anything it was that their luck wouldn't last, and about four and a half hours after their break, where the land began to move towards the sky and the isolated trees grew a little thicker, it finally ran out.

It started with a sound. The rain was loud, but the faint whispers of something unnatural were still able to reach their ears.

"Does anyone else hear that?" Emerald asked.

"Yes."

"I do."

The group stopped and drew their weapons. The sound continued but there was nothing to be seen in any direction. The rain might have been bad but there was no way it could obscure a grimm that had gotten close enough for them to hear. Of course, with Cryphilictal only a little more than a day and a half away, grimm weren't the only beasts that might attack them.

The group formed a rough circle to have eyes in every direction as the sound grew, not louder but perhaps more distinctive. To Yang, it sounded like a cartoonish laugh. To Jaune, it sounded like someone flicking a lighter on and off, but both heard the " _Khe-he-khe_ " getting closer.

"Where is it coming from?" Jaune whisper as he thought of all the possibilities. If it was invisible the rain should still be hitting it and footprints would appear in the mud. Intangible maybe? If that was the case they might already be doomed.

Suddenly the sound cut out as if it was a speaker that had been unplugged, and the ground began to rumble. Emerald was the first one to put two and two together. "Move!" She screamed.

Jaune didn't even think about it as he leaped in the direction he was facing as far as he could. Yang was slower in following the instruction, but she still avoided the maw that popped out of the ground and would have bitten off everything below the knee had they still been there.

Jaune and Yang swung around, but it was Emerald who swung around with her chained blade unleashed to try and strike the target. Unfortunately, the creature dove back underground long before the weapon reached it. The muddy ground slid back into place covering its escape.

" _Khe-he-khe_ - _khe,_ " it said like it was mocking them.

"Quick, what did everyone see?" Jaune said.

"Definitely a grimm," Emerald responded. "It had a flat face with a wide mouth. Looked like a dish. It didn't come out far enough for me to see its body, but I'd say it's bigger than an Ursa Major."

"Okay," Jaune said storing that information away. "Yang, have you ever seen anything like this before."

She seemed surprised to be asked a question so directly but quickly recovered. "No, I've never even heard of anything like that."

The grimm was a complete mystery then. Not good, but better than it could have been given what might have come crawling out of Cryphilictal. All grimm were susceptible to blades and bullets, so as long as they could lure it out of the ground they should be able to kill it.

"Let's separate," Jaune suggested, "when it surfaces to try and eat one of us the others will be in a position to counterattack."

"Sounds good to me."

They formed a triangle far enough away from each other to where the grimm wouldn't be able to try to take a bite out of more than one of them at a time, but close enough so they could run to each other if something went wrong. The only thing left to do was to wait for the thing to emerge.

The rain pounded and the wind howled, but the distinctive sound of the grimm was nowhere to be found. A grimm would never run away from a fight so what could it possibly be doing? Jaune got his answer a moment later when three massive quills dug out from the ground and shot towards him like arrows fired from a ballista. Jaune was completely caught off guard by the surprise attack and was only able to evade it by falling on his ass.

He knew what was about to happen the second his butt sunk into the mud and rolled away as quick as he could. It still wasn't fast enough. When the wide jaws of the grimm broke through the ground they caught one of his legs with their jagged teeth.

Aura protected him from any real damage, but the pressure of having several sharp points digging into his leg was unpleasant and his aura wouldn't hold out for long if this thing kept chomping on him.

Though with the grimm so up close Jaune was able to get his first good look at it. Just like Emerald described its head was very flat with its nose and eyes poking out the top. It kind of resembled a much wider alligator. The entire top of its head was encased in the standard bone armor too tough to break through in Jaune's position, but there was a slit to allow for the grimm's eyes. That was exactly where he planned to strike, but as he positioned his sword to take the plunge, he saw a flash of intelligence in the grimm's gaze.

" _Khe-he-khe_." The grimm swung its head up and to the side taking him with it. His aura crackled as the grimm's teeth were the only thing keeping him tethered to the ground. His sword fell from his hand and disappeared back into the Apeiron. Sadly, his suffering wasn't over as two of Emerald's bullets impacted his back since she had been running to help him and had chosen the same target to attack as he had.

After the grimm was finished using his body as an impromptu shield, it swung its head back around the other side, letting him go in the process. He flew right at Yang, who had also been running towards the grimm, but instead of catching him or getting to experience what it's like to get hit by a flying body for herself, she decided to dodge, leaving him to smack into the mud.

Jaune's valiant sacrifice went unavenged, however, as the grimm dove back underground before Yang could reach him. "Damn it!" she yelled punching the hole that was no longer there.

While that was going on. Jaune was busy pulling himself out of the mud. "You alright?" Emerald asked once she got a little closer.

Jaune spit out a glob of brown and green, but the awful taste still lingered. "My leg hurts and my back is sore, but I'll live."

"Sorry about that," she said, embarrassed.

"It's fine. There's no way you could have known the grimm was smart enough to use me as a shield, and at least you tried to help me," he said, giving Yang a disgusted look as she wandered over.

She either didn't notice or chose to ignore it. Truthfully, that was probably for the best. This wasn't the time to be fighting among themselves. "This is bad," Yang stated. "It recognized the threat of Emerald guns. This one must be really old."

"I think we figure that part out," Emerald said, "but what was with that first attack. It's like a subterranean Nevermore."

As if to prove her point, another volley of quills dug their way through the ground and attempted to skewer them. It wasn't as much of a surprise this time so all of them were able to dodge it, but it had been closer than any of them would have liked.

"How does it know where we are?" Jaune complained, re-manifesting his sword.

"It can either hear us or smell us," Yang replied.

"It's definitely the smell," Emerald answered. "We were quiet during our formation and even if it did have super hearing that could pick up our breathing and heartbeats this rain would have drowned it out."

Jaune eyes darted across the ground as search for any signs of the subterranean grimm. "So. I'm guessing your illusions aren't going to be able to help us out here? That's normally our ace in the hole."

"Not this time. Mimicking or masking out scents to something with a superior nose isn't possible since I don't know what it's actually smelling. It would be like a blind person trying to explain what colors are. Besides my semblance is mostly for sight and sound, simple touch if I really push it but taste and smell is mostly beyond my capabilities since it doesn't come up that often."

"Thanks for the rundown, but we need a pla—WATCH OUT!" Yang yelled.

Emerald saw something flying at her from the corner of her eye and twirled to avoid it. It wasn't perfect though. Her poncho fluttered outwards and the black streak sliced right through the side.

"You gotta be kidding me," Jaune cried as he saw what had won some of Emerald's clothing. They had been so focused on the immediate problem that they had forgotten just whose territory they were in, and Emerald had nearly paid the price for it.

This new grimm was a lot easier to categorize than whatever was lurking beneath them. It was shaped exactly like a hummingbird and was about half the size of him. The only parts of it that were armored were its beak and the front of its face, but what it lacked in defense it made up for in mobility easily weaving between Emerald's chained blades as she tried to swat it down. That would have been bad enough, but the hummingbird was even fast enough to slip through Emerald's guard and score a hit by using its beak like a rapier.

" _Khe-khe-khe-khe_."

"Just shut up!" Jaune yelled, stomping on the ground as if that would have done any good. He raced to help Emerald, the rain feeling like sweat on his face, but even with both of them engaged, the hummingbird evaded every swing like it was nothing.

"Can you use your semblance on this one?"

"If I stop to concentrate on that, this thing is going to skewer me. How about you use one of your tricks, Mister Magic Man," Emerald panted just as the grimm scored another hit on her shoulder.

If he could have he would have. Not even he could draw an etch on this muddy terrain, and the rain would just wash any attempt away anyways. "Then I'll cover you while you—"

The ground they were standing on slid and bulged. The hummingbird seemed to recognize what was going to happen as it took off into the stormy sky just as the monster from below made its appearance.

The creature had gotten greedy and had tried to go for both Emerald and him, and it was only because it had surfaced between them instead of on them that they had enough room to evade. If it had been the other way, one of them would have likely become grimm food.

"I've got you now!" Yang said, luging at the exposed grimm firing her gantlets off behind like they were rockets to increase her speed and lifting her off the ground somewhat. Jaune cringed at the ammo usage, but he was willing to leave it be when Yang actually made it to the grimm before it was able to delve back under.

Her eyes burned red as she delivered her hardest punch yet. The shockwave blew his and Emerald's hair back and even seemed to dispute the rain for a second…and yet the grimm stood strong. Smoke rose from the spot where Yang's fist had connected, but when she pulled it back there was only a small crack along the grimm's bone armor.

Unfortunately, despite the lack of any real damage, the grimm did not seem happy as it did its best attempt at narrowing its eyes. First, it bucked Yang off from her spot atop its head. Then instead of crawling back underground as they all expected, it fully emerged giving them their first look at its entire body.

Jaune first thought was porcupine. It would have been funny if the situation wasn't so serious, but the grimm entire body was covered in bone-tipped quills making it appear like a giant ball instead of whatever shape it actually was. How it moved underground so quickly was left a mystery since Jaune couldn't even see its feet underneath all its fluff.

However, it was that fluff that began to stiffen in their direction. There was about a second for them to process what was about to happen, and then all hell broke loose. Forget about a volley of arrows, the quills came out them like machine-gun bullets.

Jaune raised his shield to take the brunt of the barrage, but he was still battered in all the areas he couldn't block, practically his legs, and pushed back a few inches by the sheer volume of it all. He should have considered himself lucky that he was able to hide behind anything at all, though. Yang only had her gauntlets to help weather the storm and Emerald had resorted to swinging her weapons around wildly in hopes of knowing the quill off course.

They were pinned down for a little less than a minute, although it felt like an eternity, and there were points that he was afraid Yang's and Emerald' auras were going to break, but they held on. Jaune would have counted it a blessing that the assault ended when it did, but there had been no divine intervention. The only reason they weren't pin-cushions was because the grimm had run out of quill to shoot at them.

The area around them was littered with already dissolving quills, yet Jaune was horrified to see a new coat of them already beginning to grow on the grimm's now revealed cubby serpent-like body. " _Khe-he-khe_ ," it mocked before return to its home underground.

None of them tried to stop it from doing so as they took the time to catch their breaths.

Jaune kept his eyes on the hummingbird still flying above them. Emerald noticed where he was looking and fired off a quick pod shot. The results were exactly as expected.

"We're not going to be able to go on much longer," Emerald panted as she lowered her weapon.

"I know," Jaune admitted. Sandwiched between the ground and the sky was just about the worst position they could be in. "Let's try to focus on the bird for now. I don't think the other grimm it going to attack until its quills regrow."

Just then he felt a familiar vibration from the ground. "Or not." Jaune didn't want to let the panic show on his face but he couldn't stop it. If that grimm had already regrown its quill then this was going to become their gravesite. His senses worked in overdrive to try and figure out where the monster was going to emerge so he could do…something.

In the end, the grimm never surfaced at all. Instead the ground around Yang, who was a little farther away from him and Emerald, collapsed under her.

The damn grimm created a sinkhole!

Rainwater and mud funneled downward pushing Yang father into the hole and making it impossible to climb up. In fact, it was kind of like quicksand since the harder Yang struggled the faster she appeared to sink. Combined that with the edges of the hole continuing to crumble away, sending more mud and water into Yang's face, and it wouldn't be long until she suffocated. The grimm wouldn't even have to deliver the final blow.

Jaune rushed over to help her and the moment he did the hummingbird made its move. Fortunately, Jaune had learned from his mistakes and had never taken his attention completely off the bird. His sword met the grimm's beak in a brief clash. Unfortunately, the grimm was able to parry and quickly transition into a sharp poke into his chest. The bird really was like a fencer.

While Jaune was engaged with the bird Emerald had to decide whether to help Yang or help him. Normally the choice would have been obvious, but Emerald did recognize that Yang was in much more immediate danger.

She got as close to the sinkhole as she dared. Yang was still struggling to keep her head above the impressive amount of water that had already accumulated inside the pit. "Grab onto to this," Emerald said tossing her the only lifeline she had which was her weapon on the end of its chain. Perhaps not the safest method for rescuing someone but it would have to do.

"Thanks," Yang gurgled as another section of the ground collapsed and sent another stream of grass, mud, and water straight into her face.

"Thank me by moving your ass!" If that subterranean grimm decided to attack now…well let's just say the water would be gaining a reddish tint.

But, while Yang's situation might have been worse, Jaune's was hardly good. He and Emerald combined hadn't been able to hit this bird, so what hope did he have doing it alone? It was barely even worth swinging his sword since it only gave the grimm more of an opportunity to deliver its harsh pecks. They struck everywhere including one just above his eyebrow. Jaune didn't know if aura would protect his eyes from getting gouged out, but he really didn't want to test it.

He needed a plan, a good one. After all the abuse he had taken, even his large aura reserve was running low. His body felt slower and his sword felt heavier. If he was on the verge of collapse, he couldn't imagine how the girls were feeling. He caught a glimpse of them from the corner of his eye. Yang was about halfway up the crater and the subterranean grimm had yet to emerge which seemed to support Jaune's theory that it didn't want to truly reveal itself until it had fully regrown its weaponry.

The moment of gazing and insight had cost him another hit to his forearm, but honestly, even if his attention had been exclusively on this stupid bird, he still probably would have gotten hit. What he gained from his lapse, however, might have been the key he needed because along with the girls he had also spotted the pile of backpacks they had made before creating their original triangle formation. They gave him an idea and so far, it was the only one he had.

He dropped his shield and sword, watching them vanish from this realm, and sprinted towards the pile of backpacks. The bird was quick to follow, flapping away just behind his head. He didn't dare decrease his speed to look back, but he could still tell when the hummingbird was about to attack by the harsher beat of its wings right before it lunged. The first time he heard it he wasn't close enough to his goal and had no choice but to ride through the pain when the grimm took a stab at his unprotected neck.

But, the next time his flying friend was prepared to attack, he was just close enough. Both of them dived forward, Jaune for the backpacks and the bird for him. Jaune made it just a tad bit sooner and was able to grab a pack to shove out in front of him.

The humming bird's beak pierced through it easily and was long enough to strike Jaune chest. His aura shimmered worse than he had ever seen before and he thought it was going to break for sure, but it held, if only barely.

Regardless he could let this chance go to waste. The bird's beak wasn't exactly stuck in the backpack, but it was definitely slower pulling its appendage back then it had ever been before. Slow enough that Jaune was able to let go of the backpack and grab ahold of its beak.

The grimm did not like this one bit. It ferociously pulled back and twisted every which way to get him to unhand it, and even though he felt like his arms were going to be ripped out of their sockets, he refused to let go.

The grimm flapping and flailing like mad redoubled its efforts pushing forward so suddenly that Jaune's hands slipped farther down its beak and it almost ended up impaling him. Then the grimm yanked back and he almost lost it. It was then that he realized his plan had a fatal flaw. He might have gotten ahold of the grimm, but he didn't have a way to kill it.

The grimm jerked again and he knew it wouldn't be long until his grip gave out. This was going to be the end of him…or it would have been if a golden fist didn't rush in to save him. Yang screamed as the creature she punched exploded into a cloud of feathers. After that, she dropped her shoulders and let out several harsh breaths.

"Um, thanks for the save," Jaune said feeling a little awkward now that he was holding a white stick with a backpack on one end of it.

"I'm not sure if it really matters," Yang said catching her breath and standing up as straight as she could. "The real problem is still swimming around beneath us."

"Yeah that," he sighed tossing the separated beak to the side and getting to his feet. It was a much harder task than he thought it was going to be and nearly tripped into Yang. Luckily, she caught him and helped get him on his feet proper.

"You're not doing too good, are you?"

"No, I'm not. My aura is basically empty. What about you?"

"Ready to go. I'm going to send that grimm flying all the way to Cryphilictal." Yang pumped her fist in the air in a way that was just a little too preppy to feel genuine. She seemed to realize that too as her mood started to droop. "Although if that doesn't happen soon I'm probably going to collapse."

That's right, Yang had briefly talked about her semblance during their travels. She could use the damage she took to strengthen her own attacks and they had all taken a lot of that. It was very possible that she might have the power to break through the grimm's armor this time around, but that was dependent on her actually being able to hit it. Evidenced by the fact it hadn't attacked them for a while, it was clear that it was being much more cautious ever since it got damaged. They needed a way to catch it.

Jaune thought and thought going over everything he knew and everything he saw, and slowly the gears slid into place. A smile that would have been a better fit on a mad scientist found its way onto his face.

"I have an idea, but we're going to need to work together."

"We've already been doing that."

"No, we've been keeping out of each other's way trusting in our own individual power to get us through. Together but separate. That has to stop. We're going to have to become a real team using actual teamwork, and that means we have to believe in each other absolutely. You're going to have to trust Emerald and me with your life."

Yang hesitant for a moment, the last time she had trusted someone who claimed to be her teammate they had run off the moment things got bad, but she quickly steeled herself. This wasn't the time to be thinking about that. "Alright, I'll do it. This way if I die, I can tell my mom that it was all your fault."

Jaune chuckled despite himself. "Good to know that even in the afterlife you're making plans to throw me under the bus."

"A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."

"I bet, but here's what I've got in mind…"

* * *

Emerald had just finished making sure all her limbs weren't actually on fire when Jaune and Yang approached her.

"What the hell are you doing?" Emerald gasped her mouth sitting wide open as she tried to comprehend the sight she was seeing.

"I need one of your weapons," Jaune calmly stated despite currently being given a piggy-back ride by Yang.

"May I ask why?"

"I have an idea." Emerald waited patiently as Jaune explained what he planned to do. Surprisingly, she didn't have to yell out him for being stupid or unnecessarily reckless. It actually had some solid and clever ideas. That being said, it sounded absolutely ridiculous being spoken out loud.

"Either this doesn't work and we all die, or this does working and I'll refuse to believe that we live in a world that allowed it to," Emerald said handing Jaune one of her weapons

"It'll work, I promise."

"I'm just wondering if the blonde on the bottom really has the strength to pull this off."

"I'll be fine. It's your weapon I'm worried isn't going to be able to hold out."

With the pre-battle batter completed the Yang and Jaune stack separated from Emerald while Jaune drew a nearly completed etch on the underside of Emerald blade using his poncho to protect it from the rain.

" _Khe-he-khe_ "

"Looks like our friend has regrown its coat," Yang mentioned.

"Let's just hope it goes for us. If it starts with Emerald or decides to go for another round of quill machine gun, we're dead," Jaune said going over the etch one more time to make sure everything was perfect.

"It will. Two injured people standing in the exact same place and not moving, it won't be able to resist."

Yang was proven right when, a few seconds later, the ground beneath rumbled.

"It's showtime!" Yang pointed her weapons to the ground, and right before the grimm's jaw broke the surface, she opened fire. The shotgun shells didn't deter the grimm in the slightest, but that hadn't been the point. Instead, the grimm was surprised to learn that its meal that had been within its reach just a moment before was now a couple of feet in the air using the power of the Yang propulsion system, as she had nicknamed it.

Hovering above the grimm's face, Jaune could see through its open mouth and down its slimy throat. It was just how he wanted it. Finishing the last mark on the etch he fired Emerald's blade into its mouth.

The etch that was drawn on Emerald's blade was a simple one, something he had been able to make since the being. It could have just as easily been done with regular gravity dust. The etch's only goal was to pull a smaller object to larger ones, and that's exactly what it did.

Once the blade was past the grimm's teeth it stuck to the top on its mouth like a magnet and refused to move. The grimm, knowing something was wrong, bit down and dived back underground. Unfortunately, there was now a sturdy chain connecting them to the grimm.

"You're up," Jaune said handing Yang Emerald's weapon as they landed on the ground and he hopped off her back.

"I'm reeling in a big one today," she laughed maniacally as her hair burst into flames and she pulled on Emerald weapon like it was a fishing pole. The chain connecting the blade to the body gave a screeching yell of protest as it had never been forced to support something so large, but it held firm.

"It's a feisty one," Yang crackled as she planted her feet into the muddy ground as best she could. Under normal circumstances, it would be impossible for a person to try and pull in a grimm of that size, but these were not normal circumstances. Yang was using her semblance in a way she had never done before. She knew her semblance gave her monstrous strength but she had always had used it to dish the damage she had received back out. Never would she have thought to use in a game of tug-of-war against a grimm, but you know what, it was exciting and even more importantly it was working.

The grimm was forced from its burrow, kicking and screaming the entire way. First came its alligator-like head and then slowly its fully quilled body popping out of the mud like a worm. It tore up the ground, twisted its head and chewed on in chain doing everything it could to break free.

It was all for not. No matter how much it trashed and pulled the chain proved stronger and Yang even more than that. Finally, recognizing that it wasn't going to get away without drastic measures, the grimm stiffed it quills towards yang.

It was exactly what they had been waiting for.

With the quill standing at attention and only armored at the very tips they were very susceptible to a perpendicular attack, and that's just what Emerald delivered. Swinging her weapon in a large arc she cut off a section of the grimm's quills before it could fire them. It was like shaving a dog. The quills fell to the ground and began their dissolving process, but what was left behind was an area of smooth unprotected flesh, and that's where Crocea Mors found itself lodged.

The grimm bucked in pain and tried to strike at Jaune but its head movements were still being restricted by Yang. The grimm refocused on the source of all its problems and prepared to fire its quills, but before it could Yang simply ran a quarter of a circle around the grimm forcing it to move along with her and thus completely throwing off its aim. While that was going on, Emerald cut off another section of quills and Jaune stabbed the soft bits he was presented with.

Rinse and repeat.

It was a death by a thousand cuts as Emerald continued to shave off its weapons and armor. Eventually, seeing no other options, the grimm gave out its final death cry shooting out all of its quills in a dome around it. A death cry was really all it was thought. With a lot of its quills already gone and no aiming going into its attack even Yang, who was literally chained to the beast, had no problems avoiding it.

After that, there was nothing left but for Emerald and Jaune to keep slicing until it stopped moving, and soon enough it did.

Yang stood ready just in case the grimm was faking, but when she saw the black smoke started to pool off its corpse, she collapsed to the ground, for the first time in a long time, not caring that her hair was going to get dirty because of it.

Jaune and Emerald shambled in beside her.

"I can't believe we did that," Yang said.

"I can't believe you used my weapon as a fishing pole," Emerald said with fake anger.

All of them were dirty with mud caked up to their knees, sweat and rain dripping down their faces and aura that was near depletion, yet all three of them had smiles.

* * *

"Is this what it's always like for you two?" Yang asked still riding the high of their conquest. She was acting like a little kid waiting to open her birthday presents.

After their victory, there had still been an hour or two left of the day, but none of them had been in a condition to travel anymore, so they had only moved far enough away to where any grimm coming to investigate the battlefield wouldn't spot them. The three of them were crammed inside a tent that was really only meant to house two while the storm still raged outside, but even the tight living space didn't do anything to dampen Yang's mood.

"Not really," Emerald answered. "dealing with grimm is what your job is for, but if you're asking if it always gets this crazy, it does. Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet. We're missing all the strange magic or otherworldly creatures."

Yang's eyes practically glowed in euphoria. All thoughts of her sister back in Vale and the death that was probably awaiting them a couple of miles away were gone for the moment. Emerald wasn't cruel enough to remind her of them, but she wanted to know why Yang was getting such a kick from this.

"You seem excited about this."

Yang's eyes darted downwards and her lips parted like she had just realized that herself, but her brief confusion gave way to a cheerful smile. "You caught me. It might sound childish but this has always kind of been my dream. An adventure where I'm free to explore and do what I want. It's the reason I became a huntress."

She would have never dared to say something so personal even earlier today, but feelings had changed after their nearly lost fight. The comradery Jaune had been hoping for had perhaps started to develop. It wasn't perfect, Emerald still thought bitterly about Yang's failure to catch Jaune, but the shimmering dislike between the two girls had evaporated.

But back to the topic at hand, Emerald wasn't complete unacquainted with Yang's feelings of grand adventure. She had joined Jaune on his escapades because she couldn't imagine living an entirely peaceful life. This, however, felt like it was going too far.

"Well your certainty on an adventure now," Emerald said deciding not to give Yang's preferences too much weight. "Probably the greatest adventure there is."

"It's Yang-tastic isn't it?"

The atmosphere in the tent changed instantly.

"Did you…did you just make a pun?"

"I sure did," she said like all was right in the universe.

"Why?"

"Because it's puny."

They weren't even original or clever. You could have found them on the back of a cereal box.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing not to," Emerald asked just to make sure.

"Why not? It's not like I'm Robin you of anything."

Emerald tensed as the mood changed once again. Yang had mentioned something she shouldn't have—couldn't have. Emerald had never talked about her original mentor to anyone besides Jaune on that unfortunate day in Bury. It could just be a coincidence but that didn't make any sense. Puns worked by substituting a word for a different one that the listener would recognize. It would be weird for Yang to replace robbing with Robin for no reason, even if they did sound similar, and judging from the way Yang was currently reacting to her own pun, it hadn't been a random chance.

"How do you know that name?" Emerald asked softly.

Yang's mouth flapped like a fish as she tried to come up with a suitable answer. "I-I don't know. I just knew she was someone important to you."

Emerald frowned deepen.

"Hey, maybe it was just an accident," she said trying to explain it away. As if something like that could just be an _accident_. "I know let's test him." She pointed over towards Jaune, who had been pretty silent so far, curled up into his corner trying to get some sleep. This sudden situation had caught his attention, though.

"What color is my underwear," Yang asked him with a playful smile.

Under any other circumstances, he would have given a random guess and laughed it off, but he found he didn't need to guess. At that moment, he _knew_ with absolute certainty what color Yang's underwear was. "Purple."

Yang dropped her arm, all the cheer for before nowhere to be found. "You didn't happen to sneak a peek while I was changing, did you?" She had never looked so hopeful for anything.

"No, I didn't," Jaune said, and Yang _knew_ he was telling the truth.

"What's happening?" Emerald asked, worriedly. They all were. No one wanted private information about themselves to just leak out. They had just started to get along and this sudden _knowing_ was threatening that.

Jaune didn't _know_ what was happening, this _knowing_ apparently wasn't that convenient, but he did have a pretty good guess. "I think we've finally entered Cryphilictal's territory."

"Are we going to have to deal with the whole time?" Yang asked suddenly aware that Jaune needed to go to the bathroom but didn't want to go out into the storm to take care of it.

"Maybe," Jaune said his focus already waning as sleep beckoned him. "Let's just try not to think about it and go to sleep."

There was no way not to think about it but they tried anyways. Sleep didn't come easy as little bits of knowledge worked their way into each of their minds. Nothing too important but strange and concerning nonetheless.

Just to name a few, Jaune _knew_ that Whitley's negotiations with Ironwood were going well and his father was very happy with him. Jacques Schnee was also planning to cut off his daughter's financial support if she didn't stop ignoring him.

Emerald _knew_ that Roman Torchwick was finishing a scroll with someone he didn't much like, and Neo was playing with her weapon behind him thinking about a certain stray that was snooping around their White Fang recruitment rallies.

Yang _knew_ that her dad and uncle Qrow had arrived at Beacon to look after Ruby, and her dad was wondering what the hell his eldest daughter was up to. He was very worried. The whole situation reminded him of the closing days with each of their mothers.

They all came to know that it wasn't them closing in on Cryphilictal but the other way around.

Cryphilictal was closing in on them.

* * *

Excerpt from the book

 _There is a new theory making the rounds as of late and unlike the usual crack based musings, this one holds some water. It is called attunement and it's a relatively simple concept, but has some interesting implications if proven to be true._

 _Basically, it has been demonstrated that as a caretaker, and assumedly any other magical creature, grows older and more experienced, some spells will grow more powerful despite nothing changing in their construction. For a long time, it was thought to be like a muscle where the more you used it the stronger it would be and it was exposure alone that was responsible, but that created a conundrum where some magic didn't grow stronger no matter how much the user blasted away. This was made even more puzzling because the types of magic that improved seemed to differ between individuals._

 _In order to rectify this problem, the new thought that has emerged says that people actually are better synced, or attuned, to certain types of magic. Whether attunement happens before one even knows of magic or is something that develops while using it is up for debate along with the whole theory itself, but this does answer questions that have long plagued the mind of the so-called "elite magic researchers."_

 _For one it might explain why many species of otherworldly creatures only use certain types of magic despite multiple investigations showing that mankind is not unique in its ability to learn all different types of magical structures. Many creatures are capable of performing other types of magic, but they simply choose not to. Is it because they are attuned to their specific types? Are humans and faunus the unnatural ones for trying to branch out?_

 _Possibly, but the unquenchable desire to keep moving forwards and outwards no matter the cost has always been humanity's greatest strength and it would seem silly to try and halt it now._


	28. Chapter 28

**Beta** : ShadowMeister234

 **An: This chapter took a while and I'm sorry about that. School hit me hard and there was basically a week where I didn't have time to write anything. It also didn't help that this is one of the longest chapters yet, so get ready because there's a lot to cover this time around.**

* * *

The storm had broken sometime during the night, and even better, they all awoke to find they weren't _knowing_ things they shouldn't have. Jaune didn't know if they had been intentionally targeted or if Cryphilictal just had some sort of power leak. All he knew was that he was relieved it was gone, for now at least.

Emerald and Yang felt the same way, and with that and the grimm fight now behind them, their group dynamic was the best it had ever been. They actually talked as they walked, told stories and cracked jokes. Perhaps for the first time, traversing the south part of Sanus was pleasant for all three of them, even if Yang kept making these terrible puns.

And as they say, time flies when you're having fun, so half the day went by without anyone noticing. The landscape changed into a rocky slope where the grass thinned and trees, even the little saplings, were completely nonexistent. The wind blew harder and the temperature grew cooler, but the air felt fresher and the sky looked fuller.

Grimm attacks had also become less frequent and less severe. Jaune would have liked to attribute that to their better mood, but he didn't believe for a second that was all there was to it. It was almost like the alligator-faced grimm had marked the end of the grimm's control and they were now walking through something else's territory.

No prize for guessing what.

It wasn't just grimm that were peculiarly diminished, either. There were fewer birds in the sky and less animals frocking around than before. It seemed that no life wanted to live or even grow near Cryphilictal. Hell, even the wind and the clouds were blowing away from the direction they were going.

Still, despite all these ominous signs, the travel was easy going and went mostly without incident. That was to say mostly, there was one but it wasn't so much an incident in itself but a harbinger to one that would probably occur in the future.

They likely wouldn't have even noticed if they hadn't stopped to take a break, but during their stop, Emerald had noticed a small circular outcropping of rocks. Upon further investigation, it was discovered to be a fire pit and around it the trace remains of a small campsite.

A rectangular area where all the loose rocks and wayward weeds had been brushed aside revealed where the camper had laid down a bedroll or sleeping bag instead of a tent. Trails, that held the slightest hints of footprints, crisscrossed around the area, and the fire pit was still filled with ash along with a scrap of shiny foil that looked to have come from a candy bar wrapper.

The fact they could tell and find all this without any one of them being proficient in tracking proved that whoever made this camp hadn't done so long ago. Only a night, or maybe two if the storm hadn't hit this area, but no more. They weren't alone out here.

"What should we do?" Emerald ask.

"There's nothing we can do," Jaune said, taking his eyes away from the fire pit. "There's someone else out there. They might be friendly or they might not. The point is, we're not going to know unless we meet them, so whatever we decided to do will happen then."

Emerald nodded and Yang did too, but she said something to go along with it. "They might not even be heading towards Cryphilictal, or they might be coming back from it. We might not even see them at all."

Jaune supposed that could be the case. They didn't have any proof to the contrary, but even so, he would bet all of Whitley's money that whoever made this camp was heading towards Cryphilictal, and if Whitley were here he'd be on board.

They left the campsite being and only thought about it when they scanned the terrain for more signs of their compatriot, but they never found any more definitive evidence.

* * *

The fourth day was largely the same, with the only change being that grass growing thinner and browner, that was until the sun reached its peak and they were only an hour or two away from seeing Cryphilictal.

They had seen the object long before they got to it, but the sun and the distance had made it too blurry to tell what it was. As they got closer, it became clearer and they probably could have guessed its identity, but none of them wanted to. None of them even spoke about it as they approached, not wanting to believe what they thought they were seeing. By the time they got there, though, there was no denying it.

The body of a Goliath, with its neck slit open almost to the point where it had been decapitated, was draped across the land. It was massive, easily being five or six times Jaune's height even on its side.

The trio could only stand there with garbled air coming out of their opened mouths instead of words.

"How big of a blade would you have to have to do something like that?" Emerald managed to get out.  
"There's no way unless a giant killed it," Jaune said, shaken that he couldn't actually discount that possibility.

"I think you two are missing the bigger point," Yang said.

"What point! That there's something out here that can bring down a Goliath," Emerald ranted, reverting to her old treatment of Yang for just a moment. "Aren't these things supposed to be the apex of grimm that take multiple teams on huntsmen to bring down. This does not look like the work of a team effort; in fact, it looks like whatever did this did it in one blow."

She kept talking pushed on by her nervousness. Normally so calm and confident, this had gotten to her, as it had them all, and even though Emerald had come to terms with it, she was still the one who least wanted to be here so she was the one that got to complain.

"I know," Yang said, "but that's not the problem here. The problem is that the Goliath is still here."

Jaune understood what Yang meant immediately. He had just been so uneasy that he hadn't thought about it. Grimm dissolved when they died, yet this one was still whole. Not only was something strong enough to kill it but something else, or maybe the same thing, was keeping it intact.

That was somehow even creepier.

Emerald caught on a moment and her eyes grew to double their size. "It's not dissolving," she stated.

They observed it for a while longer thinking that maybe now that Emerald had mentioned it, the corpse would follow its natural progression and start to break apart. It didn't. It just sat there as dead and as physical as ever.

"Do you think—"Emerald stopped as fell into a coughing fit.

"You okay?" Jaune asked going over to pat her back like he had done for his sisters so many times before.

"You choke on some air?" Yang laughed.

Emerald pushed Jaune's arm away letting out one last puff. "I'm fine," she said. "As I was saying, do you think out friend from the camp was the one to do this?"

Jaune looked at the Goliath again as if he might glean some new information, but he could only give an answer that he felt like he was giving out more and more. "I don't know." Emerald just rolled her eyes, not that he blamed her. "We should just get moving. We not getting any closer by standing here."

"You sure we want to get any closer," Emerald retorted.

It was Jaune's turn to roll his eyes. "Don't be an ass. Let's go."

Easier said than done. Their eyes were constantly drawn to the behemoth-sized grimm even as they tried to walk past it. "Cryphilictal couldn't have given a better welcome even if they had posted a sign saying, 'Abandon hope all ye who enter here,'" Yang shivered.

Jaune nodded.

They were indeed close to their destination.

* * *

It was easy to forget, Jaune certainly had, but they weren't actually heading to the city of Cryphilictal, they were heading to the ruins of Cryphilictal. So, instead of the ominous walled city with spiraling architecture and glowing lights that Jaune had been imagining, they arrived at a place of crumbling stone bricks where the tallest walls only reached his knees and the only remaining structures, if you could even call them that, were decrepit foundations.

"Are you sure we're going to find something to help Ruby in this place?" Yang questioned.

Jaune doubled then tripled checked the map just to make sure they were in the right place. They were, this pile of rubble really was Cryphilictal. "The only way to know is to start looking around, but be careful, looks can be deceiving," he said, trying to not sound too disappointed. After everything they had been through, he had expected more.

The group stuck together, on the lookout for any dangers as they poked their heads over the walls into what was possible some ancient person's dwelling. There wasn't much to observe as usually the "inside" was empty with maybe the expectation of a broken piece of pottery lying on the grass floor. Emerald had taken the first few shards they had come across to observe them, but they really were just normal bits of broken clay.

There was no sense of danger at all in this place and slowly the group drifted apart as they explored separate sections. Maybe it was the city's way of lowering their guard, but as Emerald strayed farther and farther away from the other two without consequence, she started to believe the City of Magic had lost its magic long ago.

Sure, there had been all that strangeness that they had seen and experienced on the way here, but what if it was all just a lingering afterglow? Worse still, what if Cryphilictal had never had any magic to begin with? What if it was just all one big scam? A joke, where all the magic was just tricks set by other caretakers to make it seem like this place was the real deal. At the end of it all, there would be some moral like "don't believe everything you hear," or "there's no such thing as a solution to all problems." Then when they got back home, Roman would laugh at them for their foolishness. It would be the height of hilarity.

Some legends really might just be legends.

It was an extreme thought, but as Emerald searched fruitlessly for hours, she began to believe it more and more. The three of them didn't even bother to stay close by then. As long as they could vaguely see each other in the distance, it was fine.

Cryphilictal itself had probably been a pretty decent sized settlement for the time, looking like it had been about as big as Bury, but with everything cut down to its roots, it seemed much smaller. The ruins were positioned on top of, not a mountain, but what was the highest vantage point around. The height had probably given residents warning to any threats and protected them from grimm as best it could before the age of massive walls and automatic turrets. Emerald could even see a large river a little into the distance which could have been their water source.

The more she thought and reasoned how this city may have operated so long ago the easier it was to believe that this place was just like any other ancient ruin, no otherworldly forces needed.

The trio reconvened as the sun dipped below the horizon and the cool night began to settle. "Did you two find anything?" Emerald asked as they all worked together to set up camp.

"Not a thing," Jaune said striking a match and setting his enclosed bundle of grass alight. It was so small that it was really only good for light and not warmth.

"What happens if we don't find anything at all?"

"We'll find something," he said, taking a seat next to the fire. "This is Cryphilictal after all."

Funny how much weight that name had carried just this morning. Now she wasn't sure if it meant anything.

Emerald and Yang took their own seats by the fire; Yang looking away from it as she rubbed her forehead like she was fighting off a headache. Emerald had a headache herself.

"What's our watch schedule tonight?" Jaune said.

"Do we really need one?" Yang asked. "We didn't have one during the storm and I haven't seen a single grimm since we crossed paths with that Goliath."

Now that she mentioned it, Emerald hadn't either. Actually, she hadn't seen any animals since that point. Even the bugs, that she was used to hearing buzz all night, were missing. Once she noticed their absence, she realized just how eerily quiet it was.

"The storm was an expectation," Jaune said. "We shouldn't skip out on a watch just because it feels safe. If there's no grimm around then there's a reason for it. We don't want to be snuck up on by whatever is scaring them away."

"Like the Goliath Slayer, or whoever made that camp, assuming they're not the same person."

Jaune shrugged, "maybe."

"About that," Emerald said, "why aren't they here? I'm sure we all know that they must have been coming here, so where are they?"

"We might just be wrong," Jaune suggested although he didn't believe they were. "They could have gotten whatever they were looking for and already left, or they might be hiding from us."

"There aren't many places to hide around here," Yang gestured to the grey walls around them that wouldn't have been able to hide anyone even if they were laying down.

"I'm sure this place offers a host of hiding places. We just haven't found them yet."

"We haven't found anything," Emerald said again, and Jaune responded in kind.

"We will."

"But what if we don't?" Emerald shot back making it clear she wanted a real answer. She wasn't trying to be difficult, and it wasn't like she had dived so deeply into her theories that she believed that there was utterly nothing here, but there was no denying that Cryphilictal wasn't the place they had believed it to be. Even if they did find something magical, how likely was it to be something that could help Yang's sister? They had already been taking a gamble when they had thought Cryphilictal a limitless treasure trove, but the trove proved empty and now they could only bet on the scraps.

Emerald never got a verbal response as Jaune just stared into the fire, but that provided an answer in its own way. If there was nothing to find here they would have to go back empty-handed. It would have all been for nothing, and worse, it would mean they had reached a dead end. There was no other plan if this didn't work which was probably why Jaune, and Yang too, didn't know what to think about the possibility that it wouldn't.

Emerald could understand, but she also wasn't willing to stay out here for weeks searching for a cure that might not exist. She didn't want to lose faith so early either, but she had been with Jaune long enough to know that these otherworldly situations usually had this atmosphere to them. You could just feel the unnaturalness in the air.

But sitting here right now, it felt like Cryphilictal was well and truly dead.

* * *

The next day was very similar to the previous. Jaune had gotten his way and they had set up a watch. Nothing had happened except Yang losing out on one-third of her awaited sleeping time, and to top it all off when she had woken up, she had found she had a sore throat.

She knew it was better to be safe than sorry but that didn't mean she couldn't be grumpy. It didn't help that she hadn't had a proper shower in nearly and week (the rainstorm didn't count) and because of that, her hair was starting to lose its golden shine that she worked so hard to maintain.

She only had to remind herself why she was out here, though, to keep going and endure it, and besides it wasn't all bad. That fight against that subterranean porcupine may have just been the best thing she had ever done in her life. Sure, it had been terrifying and near-deadly at the time, but looking back, she could hardly believe she had done something so incredible. There was no comparison to anything in Vale.

This was a true adventure, taken straight out of one of the books that her mom used to read to her, or at least it would've been if there wasn't so much downtime.

Searching this city wasn't her idea of fun, even calling it a city felt like a joke. Cryphilictal was about as much a city as a movie popcorn was a meal. Maybe it would have been interesting if there was something to fight or even something to discover, but as of yet it really did feel like this place was devoid of anything besides rocks and grass.

A sinking feeling worked its way into her gut. What if there really wasn't anything here?

She swallowed the thought back.

The answer had to be here somewhere. She had seen Jaune use enough of his etches to know that magic was real, and despite being nothing more than strangers a few days ago, she didn't believe Jaune would lie to her. What would be the point? He and his slightly less bitchy girlfriend were out here with her, after all.

 _But what if he isn't meaning to lie to you. What if he's simply mistaken,_ a tiny little voice in Yang's head said. It was probably the voice of reason and, of course, it had to sound exactly like her dad.

Yang pushed it away and continued forward, hopping from one "building" to the next. She worked her way to the edge of the ruins, sweating heavily by the time she got there. She wiped her arm along her forehead and guzzled down one of the water bottles she had with her. Sadly, it didn't do much to relieve her.

She might have been used to being so hot that guys stopped to stare at her, but normally that didn't have anything to do with what the temperature was like. Not like the temperature should have been causing her condition in the first place. Seriously, it felt she was being baked despite it being a cool autumn day. Maybe it was all that traveling catching up with her or maybe it had something to do with Cryphilictal itself.

She would have to talk to the others about it and see if they were feeling the same effects. She turned to go back into the ruins, but before she could move, her eyes caught something on the ground. She had passed it up before because it looked just like another piece of stone that had broken off the wall, but on closer inspection, Yang could see some marks on it.

She bent down and picked it up. She was both happy and disappointed. There was indeed some writing on this stone slab, but it was so old and deteriorated that it was illegible. Not like Yang could have read it even if it had been brand new. The few symbols she could make out, that hadn't been rubbed away by time, weren't from any language she had ever seen before.

She looked at it for a while hoping that if she just looked at it long enough a flash of _knowing_ would clue her in to what it said. Sadly, that strange power wasn't so convenient.

Since it was the only thing of note she had found, she decided to show it to the others. Just because she didn't see any use to it, didn't mean that they, with their magic ways, wouldn't gain something from it.

She caught up to Jaune first, who took the slate with intrigue and then produced a journal out of thin air in his other hand. While he flipped through the pages, Yang had to take a seat. Her face was beet red and she tugged at her scarf to try and cool down. Eventually, she just took it off entirely and massaged her neck.

"Do you feel unusually hot, right now?" she asked.

Jaune looked up and seemed to ponder the question for a moment before turning his attention to her. "No, not at all. You aren't getting sick, are you?" He bent down to check on her and didn't like what he saw. Her face was flushed, her eyes were a little hazy and the sweat on her collarbone was easily visible. "Shit, maybe it was a bad idea to walk through that rainstorm. Here takes this." He produced some cold medicine from his backpack and give her his own water bottle which she eagerly accepted.

"Thanks, that's really _heat_ of you."

Despite rolling his eyes at her pun, he looked at her with concern. It had been a long time since anyone had looked at her like that. There were Ruby and her dad of course, but their worry was more of the what-if-yang-gets-too-reckless-and-destroys-the-school kind of worry. Jaune's variety was looking at her like she was something he had to protect. As if Yang Xiao Long needed protection from a guy like him.

Still, it did feel nice.

"Maybe you should go rest in the tent. Emerald or I could watch over you."

No way was she doing that, not when they were right here and Ruby was going through so much worse. "Nah, it's just a little cold. I'll push through."

Jaune really hoped so because there weren't exactly any doctors she could go to right now. He didn't push her on it and let her relax while he returned to skimming through his journal. At some point, Emerald wandered over to see what was going on.

"Wow, you don't look too good," she said to Yang.

"Still look better than you ever could," Yang replied with a dry chuckle.

Emerald chose to ignore that comment because she was understanding and recognized their relationship had bettered recently. It was definitely not because Jaune was standing right there and would be witness to any accident that might befall Yang.

"By the way, what are you holding?" Emerald asked her partner.

Jaune gave her a confused expression. "Um, my journal. You've seen it before." He said it so smoothly that Emerald might have believed he was being serious if it wasn't obvious he was trying to stop himself from smiling.

She gave him a sharp kick to the shin which aura block, but still got her a grunt of pain. "Alright, I'm sorry," Jaune said, fighting the urge to rub his leg. "It's a tablet that Yang found. It has some very worn down writing on it, and I was trying to see if I could make anything out of it."

"Can you?"

"No," Jaune concede, snapping his book shut. The legible symbols kind of reminded him of the one he and Emerald had seen in that cave during Beacon's initiation but that could just be him seeing a connection where there wasn't one. It wasn't like he would have been able to read it even if the symbols had been in his journal, anyways. Both because translating an entire language, if that was what this really was, would take a little more work than just knowing a few symbols, and because the tablet was mostly indecipherable to begin with.

It didn't have to be a complete waste, however. "Can you show me where you found this?" He asked Yang before backtracking into a disclaimer. "Only if you're okay to move that is."

"I told you I'll be fine," she said hopping to her feet and only wobbling a little bit.

Yang led them to the edge of the ruins and pointed to where she had picked up the piece of rock. "This doesn't look any different from anywhere else," Emerald mentioned, taking a brief look around. "Same old crumbling stone and same old empty "houses"."

"But it's not because this was here," Jaune said tapping the tablet with his finger.

"Oh, you're right! How could I be so stupid? That isn't just some rock. It's a rock that some child probably doodled on three thousand years ago. That changes everything."

"Laying it on a little thick today, aren't you," Jaune joked. "You're being more skeptical than Yang and she's had way less experience with magic than you. I know we haven't found much but have a little faith. When you were a thief, how often did people leave their most precious items out in plain sight."

Emerald sighed and had to admit the answer was never.

"Exactly, and I feel like Cryphilictal is the same way. It's hiding something from us."

"Don't you think you a little bit too sure of yourself since everything you know about this place came from Roman and his book," Emerald whispered that last part so Yang wouldn't hear, but Jaune still bristled at her words because they were true.

"Okay, you got me there, but I don't think he would lie about this."

"You know there are times when I think you're really smart and clever, but for the most part, you're just brain dead, aren't you?"

Jaune's shoulders slumped. "I knew you were going to say something like that, but hear me out. Roman only trick me when it was his favor to call in. He promised to tell me the absolute true whenever I call him, and he did for the other two. Cryphilictal is also mentioned in that book which was written by a bunch of caretakers. I doubt he would falsely edit something so important just to mess with me, and lastly, when he was talking about this place, he seemed genuinely scared of it."

"He's a thief and a con man, acting genuine is what he does."

"This was different. You would've had to hear him, but in short, I am 100 percent confident that Cryphilictal isn't what it's trying to appear to be."

"I'll believe it when I see it," Emerald scoffed.

"Magic is all about believing in what you can't see," Jaune smiled.

"Just because magical exist doesn't mean you can stick it everywhere."

"I didn't lead you over here because I found a romantic spot for you two to flirt on," Yang interrupted. "What did you want to come over here for, Jaune?"

"Same old, same old. We're going to explore this area, but make sure to go slow and search really thoroughly."

"All that talk and this was your grand plan? Just search harder," Emerald said, relaying what Yang was thinking.

"If anyone has a better idea, I'm open to suggestions."

The girls did not, so they continued looking going through the same empty "buildings" they had already been going through. Emerald wasn't even sure what Jaune meant by 'search thoroughly' since there wasn't anything to search through. Unless he meant for them to check between the blades of grass or in the cracks of the foot-high walls. Maybe Ruby's cure was microscopic and they should've brought a microscope.

Emerald chuckled at her own joke but that made her throat hurt so she stooped. Couldn't even have those simple joys in theses ruins, it seemed. She wanted to go back to Vale and sleep for a week straight, she felt so tired. This was not what she had in mind after the end of their vacation. Cryphilictal was a bust. There wasn't anything to find out here, yet Jaune just couldn't accept it.

She stomped her for on the ground in frustration, but instead of the grass and dirt, her foot hit something much sturdier. Curiously, she bent down and rubbed away at the ground. It was a thin layer that wasn't really ground at all but just clumps of dirt and foliage that had blown onto what laid below, giving it some great camouflage.

What she found was more bricks, the same type as the walls, which would have made this the first building she had found that still had part of its floor intact, but it was more than just intact. The bricks were immaculate. They didn't have a crack or even a scratch on them, and they were smooth. Smoother than anything Emerald had ever felt before.

"What did you find?"

Emerald nearly jumped out of her skin when Jaune said that from behind her. "What the hell!" She yelled getting to her feet. "Why did you sneak up on me?"

"Woah," Jaune said holding his hand out to protect his chest from Emerald's finger which looked dangerously ready to poke him. "I didn't sneak up on you. I was walking like normal you must have just not heard me."

Impossible. Emerald lived the majority of her life depended on being able to hear people coming towards her. There was no way that she had been so distracted by the bricks that she wouldn't have heard him approaching.

"Are you okay?" he asked while she was thinking about it.

"I'm fine," She quickly replied, "why do you ask?"

"You just seem aggressive, more so than usual," that earned him a hard jab to his chest, "and honestly you're looking a bit pale."

"You're just seeing things since Yang looks like crap. I feel fine."

"That's also what Yang said."

"Just help me uncover this thing. If we're lucky we might find some more symbols we can't read." The two worked together to remove all the debris, and by the time they were down they were staring at a perfectly laid grey brick floor about as long as Emerald was tall. There was also a stone arch on one end of it. To Jaune, it looked like a handle and he bent down to give it a good tug without even thinking about it.

It came as a surprise to both of them when not only was Jaune able to lift the floor up but was also able to roll it up like the lid of a can of tuna, the stone flexing in ways no solid building martial ever should. Peeling the layer of stone bricks completely back revealed an equally, perfectly kept stone staircase leading down into some sort of room.

"Still think we're not going to find anything here?" Jaune said to his partner with that dumb smirk of his face.

"Whatever," Emerald huffed not willing to give Jaune a single inch more of gratification although maybe that was more to keep him for noticing that her stomach was starting to bubble uncomfortably.

* * *

They retrieved Yang and their backpacks before heading down the secret passageway. The staircase actually didn't go that deep. By the time they got to the bottom, Jaune still had to hunch over to avoid heading his head on the ceiling. The floor, or perhaps it was better to call it a trapdoor, closed behind them, and after a mild panic attack where they thought they had been locked in, Jaune tried to open it back up and it rolled back easily. At least that was one crisis averted.

The room they had wandered into was square and small enough to where their three flashlights illuminated it all. They probably could've done it with only two. The smooth floor was bare and there was no furniture to speak of, but the room wasn't completed empty. On the wall, farthest away from where they were now, there was a circular indent with a vertical slit cutting down the middle. The group immediately recognized it for what it was: a door, and on this door were the same type of symbols they had found on that tablet carved across the top half.

Luckily, they didn't have to guess what they meant because someone had carved a translation below it, in the language they were all much more familiar with.

 _I am the key to open the future._

 _The existence that releases eyes and touches hearts._

 _The light that guides the lost._

 _The temptation that ills the mind._

 _What am I?_

"Great, it's a riddle," Yang complained.

"There's more," Emerald said shining her flashlight on the wall next to the door. This writing was smaller and Jaune had to walk up to it to be able to see it. This carving looked newer—much newer—than the carvings on the door, and as he read it aloud he understood why.

"Welcome to Cryphilictal, Dirty Gem, Golden Dragon, and Ceaseless Knight."

"We've been expected," Emerald said walking over to Jaune to see the writing herself. "Can't say I like their description of me. It also not written in those symbols."

"I noticed that too."

"What do you think it means?"

"That whoever, or whatever, wrote it speaks our language and knows who we are."

"You think we're being watched?" Emerald said quickly running her flashlight around the already lit room.

"I wouldn't bet that we aren't," Jaune replied, "but for now we've got a different puzzle to solve."

"The riddle," Yang jumped in, wiping her palm across her sweaty forehead.

"Yeah, I'm going to guess that the right answer opens the door."

"We could always just break it open," Yang said readying her gauntlets.

"Let's at least try to get the answer before that. If nothing else than to prevent the room from collapsing in on us." Yang lowered her fist in disappointment but complied.

Emerald walked up to the door to read the riddle again. "I think the first line is just telling us that the answer will open the door like you said."

"Be careful about assuming that. A lot of times people get problems wrong because they make a mistake about the base information and that leads them completely astray." Jaune said that but he didn't actually have an alternative to offer, so they just went with Emerald's interpretation.

"'Releases eyes' is probably just an old way of saying 'opening eyes' and 'touches hearts' means that it affects people greatly," Jaune said, thinking out loud. "So, whatever it is offers people a new perspective on life?"

"And it gives people meaning 'guides' them, but also isn't good for them," Emerald mused continuing Jaune's line of thought.

"So, it's something that's important but can hurt people if they get ahold of it," Yang said bluntly. "That could be pretty much anything. Let's try love, friendship or war. Those are usually the big ones."

The door made no attempt to open at any of Yang's guesses.

"You're not very fond of riddles, are you?" Jaune asked.

"I think you know I'm more of a pun girl."

"Riddles can be puns."

"I don't think this one is. Besides, I don't want to stand her thinking through a riddle when a cure for my sister could be behind that door. You would think that whoever carved that translation would have been nice enough to include the answer"

Emerald laughed. "That's not how the unknown world works. Nothing ever comes easy."

"Oh, so you're finally admitting there's something magical to be found in this place," Jaune teased.

"We rolled up a stone floor to get down here and are trying to open a door with a riddle. I've seen enough evidence now, so stop being such a child."

Yang burst into laughed and then made the sound of a cracking whip, arm motion included. Jaune, who had shrugged off all of Yang's other innuendos about his and Emerald's relationship, blushed bright red at that and turned away to hide it.

"What about knowledge," Emerald said. "I think that fits all the criteria. It opens eyes, it leads the lost but becoming obsessed with knowledge can lead to disaster." It was a good guess but the door didn't react. Emerald pushed on it, just in case, but it didn't budge."

"We ready to do it the Yang way?" the girl in question asked.

"I guess you may as well," Jaune said.

Yang smiled as she walked up to the door and pulled her fist back. It wasn't the strongest punch Jaune had seen her give but it probably still had enough weight behind it to bend iron, yet the door remained unfazed, not showing even the slightest bit of damage. Yang tried several more times to the same result.

In an attempt to support her, Jaune tried blowing it open with an etch. That didn't work. Then he tried digging into the walls around the door with his sword, but no matter how much force he put behind his weapon the blade didn't dig into the stone even the tiniest bit. For all intents and purposes, this room was immune to damage and destruction. The fact letters and symbols had been carved into the stone at some point would have to be ignored. The only way they were getting through that door was to answer the riddle.

They sat around for maybe an hour throwing out guesses. Things like: death, life, happiness, sadness, willpower, duty, soul, aura, a cure for Ruby Rose. None of it work and they were getting pretty stumped. Looking around the room didn't offer any clues either

It was possible the translation was just straight up wrong, or that their answer had to be given in the language the riddle was originally written in, but Jaune didn't think either of those were the case, at least not yet. You knew the correct answer to a good riddle the second you thought of it. (What has a neck but no head? A bottle.) He hadn't gotten that feeling yet. The closest he felt they had gotten was Emerald's guess of 'knowledge.' Knowing things was certainly something it felt like Cryphilictal was obsessed with, but it wasn't quite right. Cryphilictal wanted something just a little different, and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out what it was.

Emerald and Yang weren't faring any better and if none of them could crack the code then there was no one else they could rely on.

Actually, maybe that wasn't true.

Jaune dug into his backpack and pulled out a rectangular wooden case and from that, he pulled out a knife made of glass. He hadn't been keeping in contact with Whitley as much as he had been back in Mt. Glenn, and he hadn't ever tried since getting to Cryphilictal. The conversation about it being unlikely to work in this place probably having influenced his actions, and examining the knife now, Jaune could indeed see some anomalies in it. His reflection was a little muddier and the edges of the knife appeared to be foggy like ice on a window. But, overall it looked mostly fine, and it wasn't like he had anything to lose by trying.

"Whitley, can you hear me?"

* * *

So, this was the girl Jaune was risking his life to save. She was pretty cute, Whitley guessed, a little skinny, but that may have just been because she had been getting her nutrition through an IV for the last couple of days. For what he knew about the girl she was being kept in a medically induced coma until the Beacon staff could figure out what was wrong with her. Apparently, the last time they woke her she had tried to claw her eyes out, but that was only a rumor he had heard in passing.

Regardless of the validity of that claim, wouldn't it be better to move this girl into a real hospital. Of course, the hospital wouldn't be able to find anything either but shouldn't the attempt be made? He wasn't a medical expert, and he didn't doubt the skills of the people who had chosen to take care of the huntsmen to be, but surely a fully-fledged hospital would have more equipment and better staff than Beacon's infirmary.

She was being kept at Beacon for a reason. That was the only explanation Whitley could think of. Ozpin, or maybe someone even higher up than him, didn't want her to leave. Was it for her safety, or did it have something to do with those silver eyes Jaune had mentioned?

It didn't really matter. Whitley wasn't here for that. He had simply been curious about the girl Jaune had run off to save. He wasn't even the only one here visiting the girl. A man with horrible unkempt hair and a flask of alcohol, which he probably wasn't supposed to have in here, sat in a chair by the girl's bed.

He had been there since before Whitley arrived and had been glaring at him the entire time. There hadn't been any trouble yet, but the man's look told Whitley that there would be if he stayed here much longer.

Whitley knew who this man was, of course. Not just from his own research but because Winter had mentioned him in one of those few times the two siblings contacted each other. Qrow Branwen was an ex-member of the Branwen tribe that his sister now led. Uncle to the girl that had tagged along with Jaune and unofficial uncle to Ruby Rose. Apparently, he also infuriated Winter which was a plus in Whitley's book.

The barely concealed hostility he was leveling at him right now didn't even subtract for that assessment. If anything, Whitley completely understood. From Qrow's perspective, Whitley Schnee, a person who on the surface had no reason to step foot in the infirmary, had just come in here and started checking out his niece.

"Mind if I ask you a question?" Whitley suddenly said.

"Huh," Qrow seemed very confused. "What do you want to ask me?"

"It's a riddle. It goes, I am the key to open the future. The existence that releases eyes—"

Whitley was cut off as Qrow jumped from his seat, shaking mad. Whitley thought he might even try to grab his shirt, but the man contained himself. "Are you mocking me?" he asked between gritted teeth.

"No, I just want to know if you know the answer to that riddle."

"Who gives a damn about a stupid riddle!"

"I think you should since the answer might save your niece's life."

Whitley was about two words from getting punched in the face and not even his status as a Schnee diplomat would protect him.

"Just get out," Qrow spat. "I don't want to see you near Ruby ever again, you freak."

"That's fine," Whitley shrugged as if Qrow words were in no way directed at him. "I have an appointment to be getting to anyways." He walked out of the infirmary under the drunk's watchful gaze. Again, Whitley did not fault the man for his actions. After all, how could a huntsman, protector of humanity, ever be asked to control their emotions.

Outside of the infirmary. Whitley walked the now familiar Beacon halls. His destination was the gardens where he and his sisters were scheduled to have lunch together. How long had it been since they had all been in the same room together? Sure, Weiss hadn't left for Beacon that long ago and Winter wasn't so detached after joining the military that she never visited, but it was Weiss that she coddled when she came back. Winter really only saw him as a courtesy. As for the two younger Schnee siblings they had kept their distance from each other at home and that had extended to Beacon. Despite him coming and going for a while now, he had yet to see his elder sister.

Whitley arrived at a beautiful pavilion at the edge of Beacon. It was far enough removed from the main school buildings that there weren't many students hanging around. The few that were here were quietly studying or reading.

His sisters were already there, sitting around a table with a spread of food between them. Neither of them had touched it knowing it would have been impolite to start without him. "Good day, Winter, Weiss. It's good to see you," He said taking his own seat at the table.

"What kept you?" Weiss greeted which translated to her asking him why he was so late. He was never late to anything and both of them knew it. Still to hear such accusations from his sister who he hadn't seen in so long just broke his heart.

"Something came up," Whitley offered which wasn't a lie. Jaune had contacted him and asked for help in solving a very peculiar problem. It was just that trying to find the answer to Jaune's riddle on his scroll, which didn't lead him anywhere, wasn't what made him late. He had been late on purpose. Let his sisters enjoy their bonding time before he came and ruined it for them. It was a wonder that Winter even invited him in the first place, let alone that Weiss allowed it.

"I see," Weiss said non-confrontationally not wishing to press the issue.

The Schnee family began their meal in uncomfortable silence where none of them looked each other in the eyes. It was so awkward that some of the nearby students took notice, and Whitley didn't blame them when some packed up their stuff and left.

He inwardly sighed. Winter was not only the one to bring them all together but was also the oldest. She should have been the one trying to start up conversations. "I hope you or Ironwood hold no ill will toward me, Winter," he said since no one else would.

Winter's shoulders stiffened just a bit as her eyes darted to Weiss then to him as if this was something that shouldn't be brought up out in the open. Winter's worry quickly waned, however, as she realized that the diplomatic meeting between Ironwood and the SDC wasn't really a secret. That didn't stop her from giving an answer that felt more like a press statement, though.

"The general respects your point of view and although he still wishes to secure the safety of Vale by canceling the Vytal festival he will readily accept that council's decision."

"Good to hear," Whitley said flatly.

In the end, he hadn't been able to persuade Ironwood. He had softened the robotic man's position but he still wanted the festival at least postponed. That forced Whitley to go be buddy-buddy with the Vale council, who were much more sympathetic to his way of thinking. Most had already been skeptical about Ironwood's plan, but Whitley's arguments had sealed the deal. Ironwood wasn't close to having the votes he needed and so he let his plan die without ever officially prospering it.

All negations were done, which was why Miss. Secretary wasn't shadowing his every move, and this was Whitley's last day in Vale. This lunch was basically his farewell meal. Kind of hard to have a farewell when he had barely even been greeted.

His head shifted to Weiss in the most obvious display of him expecting her to say something. He bet it made her uncomfortable and she tried her best to ignore his looks, but eventually, she broke. "Are you going to miss Vale?" she said.

What a generic question. Come on dear sister weren't you raised in the political world where entertaining people you don't like it a requirement? You could at least try to put in the effort.

Whitley didn't even get the satisfaction of replying with some snide remark because Weiss scroll decided to buzz at that moment. She glanced at Winter, silently asking if it was okay, and when she got permission she looked at her scroll.

A moment later her face turned sour and she put it away. "Who was it?" Whitley asked jumping on the most exciting event to happen thus far.

"Nobody important," Weiss replied and then went back to eating her meal to avoid the conversation. Winter gave her a pitying look and went back to her meal as well. That might have been the end of the siblings' talk for the rest of the meal, but a few minutes after Weiss', Whitley's scroll started to buzz.

He didn't bother to seek the permission of his sisters as he checked his scroll and then answered it after he saw who it was. "Hello, Father," he said which caused Weiss to choke on her food and Winter's eyes widened.

"I heard Ironwood pulled his proposal," his father said skipping all pleasantries. "I assume I have you to thank for that."

"I didn't do all that much. The council was already against the proposal."

"Even so, you were there and the proposal was killed. Don't dismiss praise that is handed to you."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Good, now since you've been at Beacon for the last few days, do you happen to know where Weiss is. She is still refusing to answer my calls."

A glint formed in Whitley's eye. Perhaps this lunch wouldn't be for nothing after all. "I'm actually having lunch with Weiss right now."

He wished he could have taken a picture of his sisters' reactions. Weiss' mouth was hanging open and her eyes held an equal amount of fear and shock. It was like she had just watched someone run over a dog. Winter was as mad as he had ever seen her. Shooting him a glare that asked him what he had done?

 _Oh, was I not supposed to say that. Oops, sorry Winter, I'll do better next time._

"Reallly," Jacques dragged, "would you mind putting me on speaker? I would like to speak with your sister."

Whitley didn't hesitate to turn the speaker on and set his scroll on the table.

"Weiss, are you there," their father's voice came through.

Weiss took the time to flatten her skirt despite it being an audio call only. "Yes, father."

"Is there a reason you haven't been answering my calls?"

"I've been applying myself at Beacon and it's been very busy," she answered with a pretty poor excuse.

"So busy that you haven't been able to answer or return a call in months?"

"Yes."

Jacques sighed, one of those big long ones where you knew he was officially done with all this crap. "Weiss, do you even still care about being the heiress to the wealthiest company on Remnant?"

"Of course, I do." To Whitley, she was beginning to sound desperate.

"Really because most people would keep in contact with the business they hope to inherit. You, on the other hand, seem to be doing everything in your power to distance yourself from the SDC."

"That's not true!"

"IT IS!" Jacques' voice drowned out everything else and for a while there was just silence until their father started speaking again, going very slowly. "I had thought that Beacon would help you grow up, but I can see you're more of a child than ever. While you sit back and enjoy the perks of being an heiress, your brother continues to contribute to the SDC's success without question, so I think it's time for a change."

It was Whitley's turn to be shocked. Father wouldn't decide this right now, would he?

"From this moment on I'm revoking your access to all SDC bank accounts, and I am making Whitley the new heir to the SDC."

"You can't!" Weiss yelled, actually standing from her chair.

"I can and I am. Perhaps this will teach you to respect the things you have." The soft click of the scroll signaled the call was over.

No one dared move. No one dared breathe. For the first time ever, Whitley had nothing to say. His mind was blank, but as his father's words began to sink in, a stupid grin crawled its way up Whitley's cheeks. It was completely unbefitting of a Schnee, especially for the heir of the SDC, because that's what he was now, but he couldn't stop it.

Unfortunately, Weiss took notice of his uncharacteristic glee and dragged her nails across the table, mimicking the sound of a hissing cat. "You planned this," She growled.

In the general, of course he did, but if his sister was referring to this exact moment then no. Their father's delectation was as much of a surprise to him as it was to her. To think he would do it so openly. Just how badly had Weiss infuriated him?

"Whitley, please explain yourself," Winter said jumping to Weiss' aid just like she always did.

"I'm not sure what there is to explain. You two heard it for yourselves."

"So that's it then?" Weiss asked. "You're going to stab me in the back just like that. Do you even care that we're family? Was it really that easy for you to plot against and betray me."

Whitley's simile fell.

Betray?

Betray!

She thought he betrayed her.

WAS SHE SERIOUS!

How dare she. She and Winter were the ones to betray him. They left him, and Weiss had the nerve to think that she still deserved the title of heiress when she did nothing to keep it. He was the one taking care of everything while she ran off to play huntress. Did she just expect him to keep her seat warm until she felt like coming back? Had she planned to pat him on the head and tell him 'good job' while she took control and left him with nothing?

Whitley was raging mad, angrier than he had ever been. He tried to come up with words and nearly let slip that their mother was in rehab in his anger to prove them wrong, but he bit them back just in time. If his sisters cared so much about family then they could find that out on their own.

Instead, he forced himself to take a few calming breaths, and when he was ready to speak he did so slowly and delicately. "I'm sorry you feel that way, sister, but father has made his decision clear. I hope you enjoy the rest of your time at Beacon but I feel it is my time to leave."

"Wait a second," Weiss said, grabbing his wrist, "do you have anything to say to me."

Whitley thought about it, and he supposed he did. " Do you know the answer to this riddle? 'I am the key to open the future. The existence that releases eyes and touches hearts. The light that guides the lost. The temptation that ills the mind. What am I?'"

"Why would I answer your stupid riddle," Weiss replied.

"So, you don't know the answer?"

"Of course, I don't."

"Then there's nothing more for us to talk about." _Useless till the very end._

Weiss' grip on his wrist tightened and he thought she might actually be trying to break it, but Winter came over to pry her off. "I think you should be going," she said to him as if he hadn't already been trying.

But Weiss wasn't done just yet. "You're a rat, you know that Whitley. Always eager to please but ready to strike the second you think you can get ahead. I hope it was worth it. I really do."

"You don't know a thing about me," Whitley muttered under his breath as he walked away. His mood which should have been bursting with happiness was now soured. All because Weiss thought that everything she wanted she deserved. He wondered if she realized just how much of their father's daughter she was. At least Winter, for all her faults, recognized how unreasonable it was to expect to remain heiress after joining the military.

As Whitley approached Beacon's docks, where his airship was waiting to take him back to Atlas, his scroll rang for a second time that day. He didn't recognize the number that appeared but the fact that whoever this was had his personal scroll number made it worth answering.

"Hello, Whitley Schnee speaking," he said, trying to keep the anger he felt out of his voice.

"Is something bothering you, sweetie. You sound upset," a feminine voice said from the other end.

At first, he didn't recognize is. The voice sounded foreign, and to be fair, in all of his memory he didn't think he had ever heard his mother sound so lively—so healthy.

"Mother is that you?" He asked.

"Of course. Who else would call you sweetie? Oh! Unless, did you get a girlfriend?"

This was not the same woman Whitley had grown up. Not even close. "I thought you weren't allowed to make calls while you were in rehab?"

"It's a special occasion. I've official been sober for two months."

Whitley felt a little of his cheer returning. "That's great news."

"Yeah, I won't lie and say that hasn't been some issues over these past weeks, but I'm staying strong. I have too. This call was my reward and I knew it had to be you." She paused for a moment and her voice cracked when she started up again. "I would still be sitting in the garden drinking wine until the end of days if it wasn't for you." She sounded about ready to cry.

"Jaune helped too even if it was indirectly. If he hadn't proven your stories about the unknown world true. I don't think I could have sent you away." Whitley choked up just a bit as a good portion of his mind and a bit of his stomach told him not to admit this. "I think I would have thought you a lost cause."

There was silence on the other end and Whitley thought he might have said too much, but his mother eventually returned. "Yes, I suppose we do own that boy a lot. How is he doing?"

"Actually, he's having a bit of an issue at the moment. This might sound strange but he needs to solve a riddle."

"What is it."

"'I am the key to open the future. The existence that releases eyes and touches hearts. The light that guides the lost. The temptation that ills the mind. What am I?'" Whitley said not seeing a reason not to give his mother a shot at it.

"It's magic," Willow said easily enough.

Whitley stopped walking as he processed that answer. It was a perfect fit. "How did you know?"

His mother giggled. "Your grandfather used to tell me that riddle all the time. He told me to always remember it because someday someone might need the answer. I never really took it seriously but I guess he was right."

Whitley grinned. Fate was working in their favor. "I guess he was. I'm sure Jaune will appreciate it."

* * *

Magic. Of course, that was it. Jaune felt a little stupid for not thinking of it himself. What other answer could Cryphilictal want?

Jaune probably would have beat himself up over for a bit longer, but he had other things to worry about, two of them to be exact.

Emerald and Yang had taken a turn for the worse while they had been waiting for Whitley's return call. Yang was laying on the ground with her arm over her eyes and sweat running down every part of her body. Emerald wasn't much better, sitting beside her, staring off into the distance with unfocused eyes.

The girls' conditions worried him. It didn't feel like a regular sickness since they had both gotten it at the same tie and deteriorated so rapidly. Jaune also felt completely fine. Cryphilictal was up to something. Maybe it was trying to keep them out.

Jaune wanted to do something to help them, but he knew he couldn't. Instead, he walked up to the riddle door. "I am magic," he said.

The door remained silent and closed.

Jaune began to worry.

"Magic," he said again.

Nothing.

He was starting to panic. Was 'magic' really not the right answer. Had Whitley gotten it wrong? That couldn't be it. 'Magic' felt so right. What could he be missing? Jaune reread the riddle again trying to find a clue, and luckily, it didn't take him long to figure it out.

He pulled out some chalk and bent down to the ground. If the door wanted magic he would give it magic. He had drawn an etch here before when they had tried to force the door open, and it hadn't done anything then, but this time when he drew the etch instead of doing its normal effect it caused the door to glow.

It shouldn't be surprising that things were different this time. After all, Jaune knew the answer.

The door swung open and behind it was another staircase of smooth stone leading down into darkness. Except this one appeared to go much deeper than the staircase that had brought them to this room.

Jaune looked at the pit of darkness and then looked back at the girls. He was hesitant to bring them. If Cryphilictal really was to blame for their condition then bringing them in deeper didn't seem like the best idea. What else was he supposed to do, though? They weren't going to do any better sitting here, and he couldn't exactly take them outside of Cryphilictal's territory. Assuming the nearly beheaded Goliath, where Emerald had first shown signs of sickness, was the limit of Cryphilictal's reach that was still hours away. Not to mention that bringing two sick girls out into the wilderness would be like ringing the dinner bell for the grimm. The fact that grimm seemed to avoid Cryphilictal entirely was the only thing keeping them safe.

Jaune made up his mind. If he was screwed if he did and screwed if he didn't he might as well keep pushing forward, but before he could even take a single step to retrieve the girls his body rejected him.

It refused to move in the direction he wanted and instead turned him back towards the door. It was like he was a puppet on strings and he was being forced to do the puppeteer's bidding.

His body walked him to the place where "Welcome to Cryphilictal, Dirty Gem, Golden Dragon and Ceaseless Knight" had been carved into the wall. Except those words weren't there anymore.

Jaune's hand made the motion to summon his sword and he wasn't surprised when his sword easily cut into the previously unbreakable stone. His sword wrote its own message into the wall and by the time the strings controlling his body were cut the message read, "Welcome to Cryphilictal, Flightless Poacher."

Jaune didn't know who the Flightless Poacher could be, but it didn't really matter. That message was for whoever came after them. It was unlikely they would see whoever that was.

He went to where the girls were and garbed Emerald by the shoulder. She seemed to look right through him. "I opened the door," he said. "Are you okay to stand?"

Emerald didn't say anything but made the attempt to get up. Jaune had to help her and even when she did make it to her feet, she was wobbled dangerously close to collapse. Yang didn't even try to get up and Jaune knew he was going to have to carry her.

Somehow, he managed to get the other blonde on his back, with his right arm stabilizing her and his left arm hold the straps of both Yang's and Emerald's backpacks, his own was strapped across his front, and just to add the finishing touch, his flashlight was clenched in his teeth.

It was slow going down the staircase with Emerald practically using him as a walking stick the entire way, adding to the massive amount of weight he was already carrying.

Between the slow pace, the lack of sound, and near-total darkness, it felt like they might just be climbing down forever, but eventually, Jaune did hear something. It sounded like the roar of some massive animal. Then he saw light. It was soft and inviting. He might have picked up his pace to get to it if Emerald wasn't leaning on him for support.

When they finally got to the light, the staircase had reached its end and it was there that Jaune laid eyes on the true Cryphilictal.

An underground city that put Mt. Glenn to shame. Crystals lined the entirety of the craven's roof bathing everything in a cool blue light. On the far end was a massive waterfall, which was what Jaune had been hearing, dumping thousands of gallons of water into the city below.

Speaking of the city, Jaune had a bird's eye view from the ledge where the staircase had spit them out. Twisting roads of cobblestone ran their way through wall-to-wall buildings with their jagged roofs and sharp architecture. Canals also ran throughout the city, crystal blue water supplied by the roaring waterfall.

But what drew most of Jaune's attention was the tower. The tower was positioned in what Jaune believed to be the center of the city except it didn't start at the ground. No, it was built upside down with its base sticking to the cavern's roof and narrowing down to a point at the bottom. Everything else in the city was either grey or a dull red, but the tower was made of perfect white titles with only the subtlest of black lines running between them. It had no windows or doors that Jaune could see, but he didn't need to be told that something important was kept inside.

Maybe even all of the important things to ever exist.

This was Cryphilictal. It was beautiful and eerie and magnificent and dangerous, but more than anything else it was where they were going to find a cure for Ruby's eyes.

* * *

Excerpt from the _B_ 0 **3-** Ir9r _X_ i **y** H&g **g** h _D_

 _[Source lost]_

 _[Memory leak repaired]_

 _[Resuming operations]_

 _[Story]_

 _When Nicolas Schnee made his expedition to_ _Cryphilictal,_ _he too was in awe of the stunning sight. Although his riddle door had taken him and his 40 caretakers up far beyond the clouds. The_ _Cryphilictal he observed was made of many floating islands and some individual buildings. They bobbed up and down like boats on the ocean._

 _It was the discovery of a lifetime. Mr. Schnee had prepared for years, mastered his little section of the unknown world and gather the most powerful and skilled caretakers of the age. They were ready for anything._

 _Or so they thought._

 _By the time, it was all over their force had been cut down by a third and bumped up to half if you count those that lost their minds if not their bodies. The moon had only seen them twice before they departed and the knowledge and items they had pillaged were pitiful compared to what the city had taken from them._

 _Nicholas would never escape the nightmares that plagued his sleep, not even on his deathbed._

 _So, if a man as blessed and as great as him couldn't best Cryphilictal, what possible hope could you have, Jaune Arc?_

* * *

 **An: Coming up with the riddle was hard. I didn't want it to be so difficult that it felt like it was impossible to figure out, but not so easy that Jaune and friends would seem completely idiotic for not figuring it out. I guess you can all let me know how I did.**

 **Originally, I was going to have Jaune work it out on his own with Yang and Emerald slowly getting sicker around him, but going through Jaune's complete thought process started to feel like I was writing an AP English essay which was no fun to write and was absolutely no fun to read. So, I brought in Whitley not only to help out with the riddle but also give some more development between him and his sisters along with the announcement of his new position which otherwise would have happened off-screen.**

 **I think it turned out a lot better this way.**


	29. Chapter 29

**Beta** : ShadowMeister234

There was a ramp running alongside the cavern wall that led down into the city and about halfway down that there was a sort of guardhouse. Jaune carried Yang inside and Emerald followed barely able to keep on her feet.

The first thing he noticed was that everything inside was made from that same perfectly smooth stone they had been seeing everywhere: the chairs, the table even the door had been made out of it. None of the stone furniture looked comfortable to sit in and it was so miserably cold and dark in here that it seemed impossible that people could have ever lived here.

He laid Yang down in the area that was probably the living room and was quick enough to catch Emerald as she collapsed because of it. He laid her next to Yang then braced all of their backpacks against the front door since there was no way to lock it. He doubted the backpacks would really stop anything that tried to get in but they would give him enough warning while he was focused on helping the girls.

He didn't like the way either of them looked one bit. Their bodies were flushed with sweat, their breathing was labored and their faces winced in pain every few seconds. One time Jaune's youngest sister had eaten some bad seafood and suffered through food poisoning for three days. He and his sisters had taken shifts to take care of her, and the way Emerald and Yang were looking now reminded him a lot of how she had looked through the worst of it.

The first priority was to try and warm them up. Unfortunately, since this entire place was made out of stone there wasn't anything to burn. He guessed he could go back up to the surface, but it wasn't like there had been many trees out there and bringing down piles of grass wasn't practical. Doing that would mean leaving them behind if he did that. He had been able to carry Yang down but with Emerald no longer in walking condition, there was no way he could carry both of them.

Using a fire etch wouldn't work either since those only created the first flames. If there wasn't anything for it to latch onto and burn it would go out immediately. The only etches he knew of that continuously produced their effects was the gravity one he used on the subterranean porcupine grimm and the pitiful light one he used in the spider-slug fight. The heat etch in Junior's club that had supported his grill, in a much simpler time, hadn't actually been a continuously effect. He had later discovered that the strobing lights forming and reforming the etch had just made it seem that way.

Long story short, etches weren't going to help him here.

His last option was to move them somewhere else one at a time. Outside the house, under the crystal lights of the cavern, was warmer but not by much and taking them all the way back to the surface and leaving them out in the open seemed like a bad idea no matter how safe it had seemed up there.

With no better option available to him, Jaune pulled out every blanket and warm article of clothing they had in their backpacks. It wasn't much but it would have to do.

Before he covered them, he went to each of them and took off their shoes along with as much extra clothing as dared, trying to make them as comfortable as possible. When he draped the blankets over them, they each grabbed at them as if they would fly away. Jaune was a little afraid that one might try to yank a blanket from the other, but they actually scooted closer together so they could share and possibly use each other's bodies as warmth. It would have been a cute sight, with Emerald nestling her head into yang's flowing locks, if they didn't look like they were on the verge of death.

Next, he took the medicine he had and forced them to take it. They weren't resisting the pills, but they simply weren't strong enough to do it on their own. Jaune had to hold the back of their heads and watch them as they took short sips from the water bottle he held to wash the pills done. He didn't really think the medicine he had could help them but it was worth doing just in case.

Lastly, he took two washcloths and used the bottle the girls had just drank from to dampen them. Once he was satisfied with that he placed one on each of the girls' foreheads. They took to those much less enthusiastically than the blankets and kept trying to throw them off. It was a fight in itself getting them to accept the cool fabric but eventually, he managed.

Jaune took a step back and having done as much as he could for the girls he decided to explore their new dwelling more thoroughly. It was a small place with only two open rooms on the ground floor. There was the living room where Yang and Emerald were and then a kitchen(?) by the front door. There was a counter and stone slabs coming out from the wall to act selves but there wasn't any cooking equipment like pots, pans or bowls. In fact, there weren't any items on the ground floor at all.

No even the stone chairs in the living room counted because they weren't actually furniture. None of it was. It was all connected to the floor or the walls. It was like the place had started out as a stone cube and whoever made it had just hollowed it out, cutting around the furniture they wanted.

Jaune supposed it was an efficient method of doing things, but he couldn't imagine not being able to rearrange things once it was done. Not that he would have wanted to live in a stone home anyways.

With nothing to find on the ground floor, Jaune headed to the indented slits on the wall opposite the door that formed a ladder to the upper floor. The slits weren't that deep and he was worried his finger would slip as he climbed, but he made it up just fine.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to find. The upper floor was just a bedroom, the bed being just a raised part of the floor, with windows, which were just rectangular holes cut out of the wall, on all sides. In front of each of those windows was a stone chair permanently attached to the house like all the rest.

There wasn't any dresser or desk or anything where something could have been hidden. He did look through all the windows but he didn't seem anything he hadn't seen from the outside. He even tried the "bed" to see if there was some magic that actually made it comfortable, but that was a big no. Honestly, what was the point of even having a "bed" if it was the exact same as the floor?

Nothing in this place made sense. No human or faunus could ever live here, and while Jaune was aware it was very possible Cryphilictal's inhabitants didn't have to be strictly human everything he had seen so far was too human-tuned for him the considering anything wildly different. Massive tentacle monsters or multi-legged insect creatures wouldn't need to build chairs and doors that easily accommodated him.

Although that wasn't to say those things couldn't have moved in after the original denizens were gone.

If they were even gone, at all.

Looking at the place he was in now, it sure didn't feel like they were. There was no dust on the floor, no cobwebs in the corners, no crumbling stone. It was almost like someone had been maintaining the place just moments before Jaune had arrived.

Deciding to try a little test, Jaune brought out his sword and smacked the wall with it. Unlike with the stone in the riddle door room, a section of the wall cracked open and spilled a couple of pebbles onto the floor. Jaune thought that would be the end of it, but a couple of seconds later he watched in horrid fascination as the discarded pebbles began to move on their own. Crawling on the floor and up the wall like little spiders, they fitted themselves back into their original spot, mending into the wall so perfectly that by the time it was done you couldn't tell there had been any damage done at all.

Jaune had to shake the thought that the stone was alive, even though that very well might be true, from his mind for the moment. There was something else he wanted to try.

He hit the wall with his sword again but this time grabbed some of the falling debris.

The ones that he missed crawled back up like they had before, but the ones he held in his hand began to pulsate when they realized there was no path for them to get back to the wall from within his closed fist. The little pebbles threw themselves at his finger and he eventually had to let go when they started hitting hard enough to flare his aura.

Instead of crawling back like the others had, these pebbles floated back to their destination like drunk house flies, bobbing up and down until they mended back into the wall. Once again there was no sign that the wall had ever been damaged in the first place.

Jaune had to take a seat after witnessing the phenomenon for a second time and think about all the implications of this "living" stone. The city was self-repairing; he had already seen that much. It was probably why everything was so clean and looked so new. More concerning than any of that, though, was that as far as Jaune could tell, every structure in this city, except maybe that upside-down tower, was made of this stone. If it could move on its own then that meant Cryphilictal could rearrange itself anytime it wanted.

It would explain why ever description of this city in the book had been so different. Cryphilictal could change layouts as easily as a person could change clothes, and the moving stone was probably just the start of what Cryphilictal could do to change itself.

Jaune was suddenly filled with the urge to go back down and check on the girls. Dread clutched his stomach as he felt certain that he would go down and the girls wouldn't be there. That in fact, he wasn't even on the second floor of the guardhouse anymore. That Cryphilictal had already changed everything.

But, when he climbed down he was still in the guardhouse and the girls were still in the living room, laying on the floor in a restless slumber.

Jaune let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. As he walked passed them he brushed his hand along the top of their heads just to make sure they were really there. He sat down on one of the stone chairs and although it didn't move in any way like normal chairs do, now that he knew what the stone could do he couldn't shake the feeling that there were thousands of little insects crawling around beneath him.

It made an already uncomfortable chair even more unpleasant.

Then without warning a blood-curdling scream ripped through the air. The girls curled closer together as the wail worked its way into whatever fever dreams they were having. Jaune bolted from his chair as the distinctively human screamed continued to assault his ears. He made his way to the door, kicking the backpacks out of the way, and headed outside.

The screaming was clearly coming from the main city, but from his position, Jaune wasn't able to see anything but the buildings. Then as quickly as it came the scream cut off leaving only the sound of the distant running waterfall in its place.

Jaune was both relieved and terrified. On one hand, it was over, on the other, that terrible scream had felt like it had filled the entire cavern and Jaune wasn't sure if that was possible, no matter how loud someone was. Maybe it was how sound echoed in this carven, or maybe the sound hadn't come from an actual person at all

Random screaming would be just perfect for the city's aesthetic, would it not? No saying that Cryphilictal couldn't have a sense of humor and Jaune wouldn't put it above the city to play with its food before it ate.

He stood out there a little longer looking at the city to see if anything else would happen, but the city was still. If those screamed had been from a real person there was nothing Jaune could do for them.

As he walked back to the guardhouse, his thoughts traveled back to the message the city had left them in the riddle door room.

"Welcome to Cryphilictal, Dirty Gem, Golden Dragon, and Ceaseless Knight."

He certainly felt welcomed all right.

* * *

A few hours passed, or maybe it was many more. Without the changing sky, time slipped away much faster than Jaune would have thought. The only thing he knew was that he had gotten hungry enough to eat once.

He had tried to get the girls to eat something too, but that had been a hopeless endeavor. Neither of them had the strength to will their mouths open and even if Jaune had forced them, he doubted they could have kept it down.

At their stage, it was hard to tell if they were getting worse or staying the same, but they definitely weren't getting any better. Jaune had looked after them, doing everything he thought he should, like change their washcloths and rotate the blankets when the bottom who became too slick with sweat. At the very least they didn't seem cold, quite the opposite in fact; they felt like they were on fire. He had considered removing some blankets entirely, and using them on his own freezing body, but decided against it. Neither of the girls had tried to escape from their blanket cocoon and them being a little hot was better than them suffering through the cold.

There wasn't much to do why he watched over his patients, Cryphilictal had been quiet since the scream, so Jaune just sat around thinking, and the question he thought the most about was, why wasn't he sick?

He had shed any notations that Emerald's and Yang's sickness was any natural illness early on. He didn't have any hard proof for that, but in this situation, he felt that his instincts were perfectly valid.

This was Cryphilictal's doing and for some reason, it had left him alone. Was the city just incapable of infecting him somehow, or had his health been decided from the start? Had one of them needed to be well enough to help move things forward and he had been the lucky one, or had he been chosen specifically?

Why was Cryphilictal doing it anyways? To keep them out didn't seem like the answer, they had been _welcomed_ after all, and if the city had truly wanted to keep them out then the riddle door could have just never opened. That said, Cryphilictal didn't necessarily have to be of one mind. In fact, it was probably foolish to think that there weren't multiple forces at work in this city. Some might want them here, not necessarily for good reasons, some might want these intruders out, and some might be completely apathetic to the humans that had wandered in.

If nothing else worked out then Jaune would accept that simple cruelty was the reason behind Yang and Emerald's condition.

But, whatever the reason was Jaune knew he wasn't going to find it sitting around here. The answers laid in Cryphilictal proper, and it was about time he went down there. He stood from his chair on legs that were shaking a little more than he cared to admit.

Before leaving he decided—really just procrastinating—to change the girls' washcloths one last time and leave some food and water next to them in case they found the strength to eat while he was away.

After that was done, he thought it would be best to recheck his supplies. He was traveling light only taking a little bit of food and water for himself and the transdimensional plate that he hadn't left back at the apartment this time. He didn't know what he might need it for but it was best to have just in case. Everything else was being left here. No matter what he found or didn't find down there he wasn't planning on leaving the girls alone for too long.

Of course, that only applied if nothing deadly happened to him down in the city.

Thinking of that he decided that he should leave a note explaining where he was and what he was doing in case they got better while he was away, or in case he never came back at all. He wrote it by tearing out an empty page from his journal, of which there were fairly few left, and placed it by the water.

Once the note was finished, and he really didn't have any other excuses to not get a move on, Jaune released a deep sigh, gave the girls one last look and headed for the door, or he would have if Emerald didn't stop him by grabbing his foot.

Well "grabbing" was a bit of an overstatement. It was more like she flung her hand across his foot to get his attention. She struggled just to get her head high enough off the ground to look at him and her eyes were so glazed over that Jaune doubted she could see more than a few inches in front of her.

"…where…going?" she mouthed more than she said.

Jaune bent down to his knees and slowly pushed Emerald's head back into the blankets. "I'm going to get help," he said running his fingers in tiny circles on the back of her head. "I won't be long. You just focus on getting better."

Emerald's eyes fought to stay open. "…Don't…leave…I …need," she probably wanted to say more but her eyes lost their fight and she dozed back off into uneasy sleep.

This was why Jaune had sat around doing nothing for as long as he did. He couldn't bring himself to leave the girls unattended. They were so weak that a particularly vicious house cat could have killed them if it tried, let alone whatever might be wandering around in this cavern.

There was also the fear that he was being lured away. That this was a trap to get him to head into Cryphilictal alone. If it was then it was a damn good one because Jaune didn't have a choice. It was either sit here and watch his friends waste away or take the risk and hope he found something before the city gobbled him up.

It wasn't lost on him that he was in the same position Yang was in with Ruby. Three had come into the city to try and cure one, and now one was going to travel the city to try and save three.

The scales had been tipped even further against them. Maybe it had been a bad idea to come here—no it definitely had been a bad idea to come here, but there was no turning back now.

* * *

The ramp down to the city wasn't that long, but to Jaune, it felt like he spent hours walking down it instead of minutes, listening to the waterfall and his thumping heart the entire way. He remembered reading something about how the cruelest component of reality was how time seemed to drag on during the worst times but sped headed during the best.

There was no gate or wall separating the proper city from the rest of the cavern, but the division was as clear as day. It was where the smooth stone of the ramp gave way to very clearly designed streets. The road was still made out of stone just like everything else but it was made from long stripes running parallel to the curb. As far as Jaune could see these stripes never broke and curved along with the road. It reminded Jaune of railroad tracks except with the boards going the wrong way.

He had never seen anything like it and couldn't imagine them being practical or comfortable to walk on, and he was proven right when tried. The indent between the strips made it feel like his foot was hanging off a ledge and they were deep enough posed a serious tripping hazard. Jaune transitioned to the sidewalk, where thankfully the construction was a much more familiar brick pattern.

Being on the sidewalks put him much closer to the buildings, that ran right up against it, and he noticed that not everything in this city was made from stone. There were some black, metal bars acting as windows for some of the nearby buildings, and farther up the road, he could make out a street signpost made from the same metal.

Jaune first steps inside the city were used to go towards that signpost. While he walked, he was surprised to find that it didn't feel like a million eyes were watching him. Actually, it didn't feel like there were any at all. For now, the city felt empty and still, and he couldn't decide if that was a good or bad thing.

Reaching the signpost didn't reveal any information. There were words written on it, but they were in those symbols that he couldn't read. Knowing what they actually meant didn't really matter for navigation, though. As long as he knew what each word looked like he could still use it for navigation.

Another interesting thing to note was that the road didn't break apart into right angles like every other road network Jaune had ever seen. Instead, this one split and curved off in different directions like a snake with two heads. (Later he would discover that all of Cryphilictal's roads split and curved instead of using normal intersections.) The buildings curved right along with it making some appear much wider than they otherwise should have. Honestly, it looked a bit like one of those optical illusions where if Jaune could just find the right place to stand, his perspective would snap everything into focus.

It also could have been that because all the buildings were connected, making them feel more like walls than anything else, it was hard to tell where one began and another ended.

Jaune decided to slip into one of these buildings to see what he could see. He chose the one that made up the space between the split in the road. The building was shaped like a funnel with the door stationed at the tip, and apparently, Cryphilictal was having an open house since there weren't any locks to stop him.

There hadn't been any locks on the guardhouse either. Maybe there wasn't any way to make locks out of stone, but he didn't really believe that. If Cryphilictal wanted to have locks, it would find a way.

The interior held the same funnel shape and dimensions as the exterior suggested which, in this city, Jaune hadn't been completely positive it would. It was very similar to the guardhouse with stone furniture growing out of the floor and no other items to speak of.

However, there was a metal sconce on one of the walls that held a crystal that was the same as those that lined the cavern ceiling. He approached it to see if it was something he could take back to Emerald and Yang to give them some extra warmth, but despite it producing light it didn't give off any heat and actually felt cold to the touch.

He left the crystal alone. It wasn't worth carrying around a beacon of light he couldn't turn off even if it could probably be contained within his backpack. He considered striking the sconce to see if the metal would reform itself in the same way the stone did but eventually decided against that too. The information wouldn't really help him whether it did or didn't, and he had a feeling that if he kept poking Cryphilictal's architecture it would start to poke back.

There were stairs to this building this time around, so after finding nothing on the first floor, Jaune headed up to the second. Up there he did find something of interest. The second floor was completely bare, except for a huge mural that covered an entire wall. It wasn't made from paint but colored stone and, in this city of grey, it was a sight to behold.

It depicted four girls, each containing a single color of either blue, purple, orange or green, sitting in a circle. They all looked up at a silver moon while grimm-like shadows moved in to surround them. There was also something written under the picture but once again it was in that unknown language.

He had seen this picture somewhere before, he knew he had, but he couldn't remember where that had been.

Maybe he could have figured it out if he thought long enough, but his thinking time was very suddenly interrupted when he felt something wet hit his lip. He brought his finger up to touch it and when he pulled them away, he saw they were stained crimson.

There was no headache this time around but the blood that poured out of his nose was like a waterfall. Plugging his nose didn't help as the red liquid still managed to run past, flowing into his mouth and splashing onto the floor. The sheer amount of blood being pushed out his nose was so ridiculous that it would have been comical if he weren't the one experiencing it. Right now, he was seriously worried that he might die from blood loss. He was already starting to feel lightheaded and it looked like that was enough blood on the floor to fill a sink.

All that would have been bad enough, but just as the stones had done, the blood that had left his body began to move on its own. Jumping off his skin and flowing along the floor his blood traveled towards the mural. It ran up the wall and congregated on the silver moon painting it to a deep red, and maybe this was just the blood loss making him see things, but he could have sworn the girls in the mural reacted to the change in color while the grimm shadows crept even closer.

Taking that as his cue to get the hell out of here, Jaune rushed towards the staircase, overstepped the second step and fell the rest of the way down. His head bashed against the hard stone slabs, aura being the only thing that kept him from cracking his skull wide open, and his arms and legs scraped against the stairs in an effort to catch himself. By the time his back smacked the ground floor, his whole body was sore if uninjured.

Crawling to his hands and knees, he discovered that at the very least the faucet that was his nose had stopped leaking. A finger shoved up there came back clean as if there had never been a problem at all.

But, it had happened. He hadn't dreamt it nor had it been an illusion. He still felt lightheaded and there were still a few patches of blood on his shoes and shirt that had remained stuck to him.

How much blood had he actually lost? He could still stand and he could still think so maybe it wasn't as much as he had originally thought, but if that was the price for entering a house, he would be going bankrupt rather quickly.

Having no desire to try and go back upstairs, Jaune exited the house and was relieved to see that everything look the same. Ever since he had seen those stones move on their own he was constantly worried that every time he turned away the world would shift behind his back, but for now, it was alright. The buildings were the same, the road was the same and everything was still bathed in a calm blue light instead of a bloody red, another thing he had been worried about.

But just because it looked the same didn't mean it felt the same. The feeling of being watched that had been missing so far had finally come. It wasn't a million eyes that followed him but one. One the seared a hole into his spine and made his skin tingle. It was so potent that he didn't even need to guess where it was coming from.

Jaune looked up at the upside-down tower that was still clearly visible from where he was standing. He suspected there wasn't a place in Cryphilictal where you couldn't see it, and thus, any place where it couldn't see you.

That tower was his goal. He didn't know if it had what he was looking for, but the clearest landmark in the city was a good place to start. It was bound to be dangerous but what place in the city wasn't. He was only a couple steps past the entrance and already nearly been murdered by a mural.

Walking up to the signpost, Jaune manifested his journal and sketched the alien symbols into it, marking the path he chose to follow. It would be useful for when he needed to backtrack. Assuming he even got the chance to try.

"Stay safe you two. I'll do the best I can," he whispered before traveling deeper into the city.

* * *

Just because he could always see the tower didn't mean he knew how to get to it. It should have been simple but with the roads curving in whatever way it wanted to, it was impossible to keep a straight path. He could be heading directly towards the tower at one point only for the road to decided it didn't like this direction and swing around competently. Sometimes it seemed like they made complete U-turns.

He couldn't cut between roads either since all the buildings were physically connected. This city was like a labyrinth, and its difficulty of navigation was only cutting into his time. Again, it was hard to tell down here, but he was sure he had been wandering around for a least an hour or two. He hadn't even encountered anything that could be considered dangerous yet and that was making him paranoid. Granted, he hadn't entered any other buildings since the first, but he wouldn't believe that all of Cryphilictal's horrors were tucked away indoors. There had to be some minotaurs patrolling this labyrinth. Was he just fortunate not to encounter any or was the city waiting for something?

Jaune took a break on a street that looked identical to all the others. He could still feel the gaze of the tower on him as he debated whether he should go back. With how vigilantly he had marked his path he was sure he could make his way back to the entrance rather quickly. His only issue was that he wouldn't have anything to show if he did.

He wouldn't call it a waste of a trip because he had learned a little about the city and perhaps that was enough for now. If he went back to check on the girls and then came back, he could take a different path that might lead him to the tower quicker.

But what about the tower? If he went back wouldn't he be leading the tower's gaze right to the girls? Was it even possible the city didn't know where they were? Was the reason he hadn't encountered anything yet so he could give away Emerald's and Yang's location while they were in such a vulnerable state? But the very building material of this city could move on its own accord which meant there was some degree of control within every piece, so surely the city would know what laid inside and on top of it. Was it that the tower and the city weren't the same? The tower did look to be made of something different and it did have its foundation on the ceiling and not the city. Did that mean something?

Damn it!

Jaune grabbed his head and shook it. All this second-guessing and overthinking was only going to drive him insane. He needed to stop and just make a decision, but that was easier said than done when one misstep might mean the death of you or your friends.

He took several deep breaths, calming himself as much as he could. Okay, the street he was on made another curve up ahead. He would walk down that and if he didn't see anything by the time it straightened out again he would head back and check on the girls.

That was his decision and he was sticking to it.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it, Jaune was leaning toward the latter, he did see something. It was a building which in itself wasn't anything special, but this one had a competently different presence to it. First off, it capped the street creating a dead-end which was something Jaune hadn't encountered before. Secondly, it wasn't plain and flat-faced like the rest of the buildings.

This one had stairs leading up to the door which was under an overhanging roof. That overhang was supported by two pillars, and it was those pillars that really brought out the difference. They were made to look like a spiral of hands and arms with one arm growing out of the palm of another and so on and so on until it reached the top. To Jaune, it looked like the hands were clawing at the arm growing out of it as if it was trying to pull it back in, or maybe trying to pull itself further up the chain.

Whichever it was, it was a disturbing sight and would have felt more at place in a horror art book than actual architecture.

He was already starting to regret his decision, but this place was definitely something worth investigating.

The stone of the street and the stone of the building weren't any different but when his boot slapped against that first step, it sounded like a whip's crack and the second sounded like a nail being hammered in. Both felt like they could have been heard all throughout Cryphilictal.

The arm pillars didn't try to reach out and grab him when he passed, and when he pulled on the door leading into this building, he found it just as inviting as the mural house had been.

It was dark inside with the only light coming through tiny slit windows at the top of the building. Not dark enough to where he couldn't see, but dark enough to make him considered bringing out his flashlight, for the comfort of having it if nothing else. He didn't for obvious not wanting to announce his presence to anything that might be looking reasons, but he still thought about.

The building was also much longer than Jaune had thought it would be. Basically, it was just one big rectangular room although most of that room appeared to be a level below where he was since he appeared to be on a balcony that ran the entire perimeter of the room.

Jaune started to cross the distance between the entrance and the balcony's railing to see what was below him but stopped halfway when he heard a noise that sounded like someone trying to slurp the bottom of a cup through a straw when their drink was gone. That noise was soon joined by a dozen others, each having its own variance of awfulness.

Sweat broke out on the top of his hand and he crossed the rest of the distance stepping ever so lightly. Once he got to the railing he nearly reeled back in horror at what he saw. Everything he had gone through so far, and yet there never ceased to be sights that could catch him off guard.

Below him was a pit of completely smooth walls that ran at least a hundred feet deep. Inside that pit was perhaps thirty or so creatures wiggling around at the bottom. It was hard to make out any specifics in the low light, and for that he was glad, but Jaune could tell that those things weren't part of the normal world. There were tentacles, razor teeth, fleshy skin, glowing eyes, extra appendages and disfigured structures.

With the massive pit, the many monsters and the viewing balcony this place reminded him of a holding pin, or if he wanted to think theatrically, an ancient battle arena. Not that any of the things down there looked to be fighting one another. They were just kind of wandering around down there.

There was one other thing that drew Jaune's attention, however. Taking up almost the entirety of one of the pit's walls was a giant glass mirror reflecting the pit's residents with perfect clarity. It was an odd thing, but at least it didn't have a frame of legs and feet, so Jaune would give it a pass.

Given the pit of monster a wide breadth, Jaune explored the rest of his floor although there wasn't really much to see. The balcony was completely flat and devoid of any features. It wasn't until he got all the way to the other end of the building did he see another door.

While he was contemplating opening it, he heard what sounded like wind chimes coming from the pit and against his better judgment he went over to see what it was.

The mirror was rippling and about halfway up a black, red and brown goo was pushing through like puss from a wound. It was only then that Jaune realized that the mirror in the pit was the exact same as the mirror in the Schnee mansion and what his knife was made of.

Quickly after having that revelation, the slime finished its rebirthing and fell onto a worm-like creature. The worm gave an angry, painful hiss as it seemed to melt under the slime's body. The worm thrashed around and tried to bite the strange half-liquid half-solid substance that had assaulted it, but it was to no avail. Its movements ceased and it collapsed to the ground, steam rising from its corpse.

All this action had disturbed the herd and soon it was full-blown madness. Jaune couldn't tell if they were all attacking each other, or just trying to kill the slime, or if it was just an uncontrollable frenzy.

Whatever was going on, the chaos caused one of the creatures to be flipped upside down, and when that happened its eyes were pointed upwards and saw him. Jaune tried to back away but it was too late. The creature righted it, spouted wing from its back and flew up to get him, but before Jaune could even prepare for a fight an arm made from what looked like condensed shadows shot out of the pit's wall faster than Jaune could see.

The shadow hand snatched the flying creature, stopping it before it came anywhere close to escaping the pit. The flying creature struggled to escape, but the force that held it was immovable. Then the hand's finger squeezed down popping the poor creature like a balloon spilling blood, guts and all sorts of other ichor back down into the pit.

It was the smell though. Oh lord, the smell. It was the most rancid scent to ever assault Jaune's nose. His cheeks wrinkled and his eyes watered as he kept backing away until he crashed into the door and basically tumbled through it.

He was only dimly aware that he was back outside when the scent finally surpassed Jaune's limit and he expelled his latest meal from his throat. It landed with a wet splat onto the stone sidewalk and the smell it emitted was almost pleasant compared to what he had just come from.

While he tried to wipe the taste of vomit from his mouth, Jaune took stock of where he was and saw that to his left instead of the unwalkable roads he had come to know, there was a path of water. One of those canals he had seen from his lookout atop the ridge.

The water was the clearest blue he had ever seen and it looked so refreshing that he couldn't help but be drawn towards it. The water level was only an inch or two below the walkway and easily accessible to Jaune when he knelt onto his knees. His hands moved towards the pure liquid in hopes that it would alleviate the aftertaste in his throat.

"I would advise against that action. That's the type of water that drinks you," A voice said in a single unbroken tone.

Jaune's hands stopped and he looked a bit farther up the canal where a gondola—a _wooden_ gondola waited and a man(?), with a grey cloak covering every one of his features, sat.

Jaune took his hand from the water's edge and rose back to his full height. His sword was already manifested by the time he did. If the cloaked figure took any offensive to Jaune arming himself he didn't show it.

"You spoke to me in my own language," Jaune said.

"If you prefer, I can switch to Old Senteal."

"No, please don't…who are you?"

"A ferryman."

Jaune hadn't lowered his guard but he was more relaxed. He didn't think this person was going to hurt him. Didn't think this person was really a person at all. Just another part of Cryphilictal's design more alike to the moving stones than to him.

"So, you'll take me wherever I want to go?"

"As close as the canals come."

"What about the upside-down tower? Can you take me there?"

"Yes."

Jaune took a few steps closer to the gondola and stopped when he thought of one more question to ask. "There isn't any price, is there?"

"All guidance services are free of charge to all Cryphilictal residents and tourists."

Jaune chuckled a bit at being called a tourist, but he guessed that wasn't wrong.

He walked the rest of the way to the gondola and kept an iron grip on his sword as he stepped on keeping an eye on the ferryman for an indication of an attack.

"Where to?" the ferryman asked as Jaune took his seat in front of him.

"The tower," Jaune said leaning in to see what was under the ferryman's hood. There wasn't anything. Where a person's head should be, there was nothing but air. Jaune's guide wasn't a person wearing a cloak but was the cloak itself.

"As you wish." The ferryman picked up an oar from the bottom of the boat with its sleeves and set them on their way.

The tower's gaze felt heavier than ever.

* * *

 _Excerpt from the book_

 _The worst thing about_ _Cryphilictal isn't the monsters or the magic. It's how you feel like your every move has already been decided. That the city already knows your fate and is playing you along like a fisherman reeling in its latest catch. For just as you make the decision to turn back or try something else that would take you off the rails, around the next corner is something that keeps you locked in as if the city knew all along and had placed it there just for you._

 _Keeps you curious, but we all know what they say about curiosity and cats._

 _Does Cryphilictal really know? Does it really tailor the experience for every person and group that comes to it in its own twisted way of having fun? I so badly want that answer to be no, but at least some part of it must. How else could it welcome everyone at the door if it didn't?_

 _I suppose the real question is if you believe in destiny and if so do the forces in Cryphilictal get to decide it. The moment you step into the city, and perhaps long before that, is your fate already set in stone, or does everyone have a chance to succeed?_

 _That accursed city is powerful beyond measure, that much is certain, but I refuse to believe it's perfect. It's called a ruin because it fell at least once before. It can slip up and it can be tricked and it can be beaten._


	30. Chapter 30

**Beta** : ShadowMeister234

 **An: So, Vol 7 has started. I don't want to say too much about it (maybe if you all want me to, I'll give my thoughts when it's all over), but we've reached Atlas and that means we might get to see Whitley. Got to say for a character that has maybe two minutes of screen time I've really fallen in love with him, or my version of him, from writing this story and from the reviews it seems you all have as well. Now I'm not asking the Whitley in the show to be exactly like mine, but if it turns out he's just a mini Jacques in every way, I think I might cry.**

* * *

Jaune's guide was being very quiet now that the trip had started. Any questions he tried to ask him about the tower or anything else was met with silence. Guidance services might be free but apparently, information was not.

Jaune took this moment of relaxation to watch the city go by as the gondola rowed along. On this side of the monster holding pen, the city was a lot more open. The buildings were more detailed and weren't squashed together, roads were wider and some opened into large plazas that looked like they could have been markets or community gathering squares. There were even bridges that crossed above the canal that the gondola sailed smoothly under.

It was starting to look like a city people could actually live in instead of the labyrinth Jaune had been traveling trough. Still wasn't a place Jaune would have ever wanted to live in since everything was still grey stone, but there was a certain charm to it.

If the tower didn't yield anything, he would go back to the girls then come here to investigate. This was where the real magic was. The labyrinth was just the city slums, a holding pen in itself.

The gondola slid along and Jaune had to constantly resist letting his hand run along the water. He didn't know what 'the type of water that drinks you' meant, but he was good not finding out. It was the one piece of information the ferryman had offered for free and he wasn't about to test it.

The gondola eventually came to a stop in what was the end of a not too long ride. The tower was close, closer than Jaune had expected. It took up the majority of the horizon and its white titles were practically blinding. Jaune found himself having to avoid looking directly at it. The tower's previously pinpoint gaze was now more like a blanket covering his entire body which actually did a bit to relieve the pressure he was feeling. It was the difference between a laser pointer being aimed into your eye and being blown out by a spotlight. Neither was a pleasant experience but one was far better than the other.

"Thanks for the ride," Jaune said neither hearing nor expecting a reply from his guide. He stepped off the boat and onto the familiar stone flooring feeling a bit shakier on it despite it being solid land. He actually didn't think the gondola shook a single time while he was on it.

The shakiness was hardly a cause for concern, though. It was probably just his mind playing tricks or his nerves catching up to him. Even if it wasn't, the shakiness was gone by the time he took his first step towards the tower.

The buildings that neared the tower weren't so much as building as they were stair-stepped pyramid shrines with little altars or statues on top. Jaune had no idea what they could be shrines to or why there were so many. He mostly tried to ignore them lest he be tempted to investigate one of them instead of the tower.

It wasn't that hard of a task because the tower arrived surprisingly quickly and Jaune found himself in _its_ plaza.

There were four roads leading into the circular area each coming from one side making the center of the city look like a compass. The upside-down tower didn't actually touch the ground as Jaune had started to suspect. It came close but it hovered about a foot or so above the ground ending in a point about the size of a car.

It would be just enough space for Jaune to stand in comfortably if he entered at the very bottom. Unfortunately, he didn't see any way to enter. He circled around the tower twice looking it up and down but there was nothing. No doors. No windows. Just as he had observed from the guardhouse ridge although back then he had just assumed that he had been too far away to see them. He had spent all that getting here and the tower wasn't going to let him inside. For all Jaune knew there might not even be an inside and it was solid all the way through.

He wasn't imagining that gaze, though. Something was definitely watching him from within the tower. Jaune _knew_ there was. He stepped up to the tower and placed his hands on the white surface.

It was warm. The type of warm that just made you want to curl up and take a nap.

Jaune pressed his cheek to the tower.

It was also beating. The soft lub dub of the city's heart. It was a sound that could wash all your worries away.

Something was calling to him. He needed to get inside, and if the tower wasn't going to let him in then he'd force his way in.

Making sure to keep one hand on the tower, else he lose that pleasant warmth, Jaune brought out his sword and swung it with all his might against the tower.

A painful vibration went up his arm and into his shoulder as his sword bounced off without making a scratch, but that didn't mean nothing happened. When his sword hit, the tower shook ever so slightly and made a sound like a gong.

It was so loud that it knocked Jaune off his feet and away from the tower's lullaby. It was only then did Jaune have enough of his cognition back to realize that he had just made a horrible mistake.

As the ringing continued, the gaze, that had been a companion for the majority of this expedition, slowly closed. The tower's eye taking a rest after a day of hard work its task now completed.

Not long after that, the final waves of the thundering gong faded away and all was quiet.

It should have been a relief to be rid of that gaze, but it wasn't. Jaune was terrified. The tower had led him here on purpose and he had fallen for its trap hook, line, and sinker, but this wasn't the time for regrets or to start kicking himself. He needed to take action and that meant getting out of her as fast as possible. He would hold out in the guardhouse and wait for things to, hopefully, calm down.

For what to calm down? He didn't know. There wasn't anything happening yet, but the keyword was "yet". He needed to get out of here. It didn't matter if he got back with nothing to show. His life was enough to show for now.

He picked himself off the ground and ran as fast as he could to the empty cloak and its gondola. Was it safe? Could it still be trusted after the gong had rung? Maybe not but the simple fact was that Jaune was in the center of the city with no idea how to get back out without his guide.

Another mistake that Jaune really shouldn't have made. He had been so careful planning his path up to that point, yet he had thrown it all away just because he got a little lazy. Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

A shadowy shape was hopping across the roofs some distance in front of Jaune but it was closing in fast. He pumped his legs even faster making his lungs work double time.

He could see the gondola exactly where he had left, the ferryman still completely still either unknowing or uncaring of Jaune's predicament.

The shape jumped down and over the canal from the side of nice buildings and community gathering squares into the land of pyramid shrines and devious upside-down towers. Jaune clutched his sword and shield as he slowed down realizing that he wasn't going to avoid this confrontation.

The shape ran across the street between shrines and stopped just short of Jaune. It was humanoid in build and under the grey feathers that covered its body, it might be a human or had been a human once upon a time. On its face, it wore a black mask with a stubby curved beak at the mouth. Although with how well it merged with the feathers and how the material looked more alive than leather or metal, Jaune wasn't sure if it was really a mask at all. If it wasn't for the foggy glass eyeholes, he wouldn't have thought to call it a mask as all.

There were other things to worry about than its facial structure, though, like the short sword it held in its right hand, where fingers either covered in a glove or the creature's deceiving skin could just be seen coming from its feathery sleeve, or the gauntlet it wore on its left where three blades, that looked an awful lot like bird talons, gleamed with sharp ferocity.

Finally, a golden chain was wrapped around its neck from which an equally golden pocket watch hung all the way down to its stomach. It swung back and forth like a pendulum despite its owner standing still, but what was really getting to him was the constant ticking it kept making.

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

He had only been hearing it for a few seconds but it was already driving him insane, worse than even the tower's gong.

The two of them stood across from one another sizing each other up.

"Will you let me through?" Jaune asked. He knew it was pretty unlikely that this creature would be friendly or reasonable, but it didn't hurt to ask.

It didn't say anything and instead rushed him coming in low and swiping up with its talon blades. Jaune was ready and caught them on his shield and then blocked the short sword with his own as the creature tried to stab it into his neck.

They were stuck in a brief stalemate until the creature broke off and backed away. Jaune kept his guard up not willing to charge in when he still didn't know what this thing could do. It was best to be cautious for now.

The creature was the exact opposite with its arms to his sides and head tilted as if was confused that Jaune was still alive. The watch around its neck kept swinging and Jaune was finding it hard to keep his eyes on his opponent instead of on that.

It was no use, the golden watch was just too tempting and the moment his gaze lingered on it too long, the creature was on him. His vision was full of grey feathers as he barely blocked a thrust to his stomach and just avoid a slash to his arm.

The creature was faster now and much more aggressive. Jaune was completely on the defensive and while he managed to avoid any major blows, he was given up ground like crazy. Luckily, he had plenty of ground to give.

Jaune weather the storm and got his chance to counter-attack when he deflected the talons with his shield leaving the creature's side wide open. He stepped forward and went to skewer the creature. His sword hit and went through coming out the creature's backside but it became very clear that something wasn't right.

It didn't feel like he had just pierced through flesh and bone. It felt more like he had stabbed his sword into a puddle of mud. Even worse though was that the creature didn't seem to care about the piece of metal running it through.

The creature brought his short sword up almost casually, and with Jaune so far overextended, he had no way to block when the hilt crashed into the back of his head. His vision swam as he let go of his sword, causing it to disappear, and took as many steps back as he could.

It didn't save him.

His aura crackled as three curved blades cut their way across his chest sending him back even farther. The back of his foot caught some part of the road and he started to fall which surely would have been the end of him, but he manifested his sword and stabbed it into the ground to give him a kind of walking stick.

It saved him from completely falling, but it didn't save him from the kick to his shin. The attack almost sent him to the ground once again, but he pushed through though pain and managed to use his shield to block the next few attacks.

Now that he was in a slightly better position, his eyes drifted the spot where he had stabbed the creature. The wound was still there. It hadn't closed up and healed itself which was good, and there was some kind of yellowish liquid dripping from it, so at least Jaune knew he had done something and his foe wasn't incorporeal.

If he could cut the creature in half at the waist or the chest, that would probably stop it. Normally, that wasn't something Jaune would ever consider, but with how soft the creature's body had felt, he was sure he could cut it all the way through. He just needed the right opening.

But, an opening like that wasn't going to present itself easily. The creature had learned and was taking things a little slower which made it easier for Jaune to stand his ground, but he couldn't expect another free shot.

The biggest problem for him was that his opponent had two offensive weapons to attack with while Jaune only had the one. Having to block and parry all the time gave him little chance to go on the offensive. It was a position he was used to since Emerald basically used the same strategy in their spars. The key was to hold steady until she tired herself out then go in for the attack while she was sluggish, not that he had actually beaten her that way but the theory was sound. The problem here was that despite his foe beating on him double-time it didn't show any signs of running low on steam.

If it couldn't be exhausted then it was just a matter of time until Jaune slipped up or just ran low on energy himself. He tried being a little more aggressive exchanging blows to his aura for chances to strike.

It didn't work.

Facing reality, Jaune knew this thing was simply better than him, and it all cumulated when the creature's sword came up to pierce his shoulder. Jaune brought his shield up to block causing the creature to readjust by lowering its sword and aiming for his stomach.

The blade clanged off Jaune's shield as he followed it down, and that should have been the end of another series of strikes but it wasn't. When the creature's blade failed to cut into Jaune stomach there was a definite break in the pocket watch's ticking…

Tick, tick, tick, TOCK!

…and the sword that had been position at his stomach was back up to his shoulder. To be clear there had been no movement between these two positions. Simply the blade and the arm attached to it had been in one place and then in an instant, it was in another. It was not simply fast or quick. It was more like the creature had never lowered it at all.

Of course, Jaune's shield was still very much lowered and there was no time to bring it back up. He could only brace himself as the blade drove deep into the aura of his shoulder. Jaune grunted and thrown his shield upwards, but the creature pulled its arm back before the top of Jaune's shield could smash into it.

The talon blades swinging in from his right meant there was no time to rest or contemplate his failed counterattack. Jaune raised Crocea Mors to parry and maybe create an opening, but just like the last time, the creature's watch tocked instead of ticked—this time Jaune clearly saw the second-hand jump back a second—and the attack Jaune had been ready to counter was no longer coming.

It wasn't just the weapon, the entire creature had snapped back to the position it had been in a second ago, but this time it chose to launch a different attack with its talons, sending them coasting towards Jaune face.

He couldn't bring his sword up in time since, in essence, he had used it to block an attack that had never happened. Luckily, he was quick enough to duck under the talons and had enough frame of mind to back away from any possible supporting attacks. The creature wasn't as fond of that idea as Jaune was and came after him.

Tick, tick, TOCK! Tick, tick, tick, tick, TOCK!

It didn't take many of those for Jaune to put together what was going on. That pocket watch clearly had the power to send its wearer back one second back in time. If it could go further than that the creature wasn't making use of it which was just as well because Jaune was having enough trouble as it was.

Not only did he have to account for the attack that was happening, but he also had to prepare for any attack that could happen. If having two weapons gave the creature the ability to attack at twice the speed, then this little trick boosted it up to four times the speed.

Jaune simply couldn't keep up.

A shield brought up to block a talon would be too slow to block the alternate version of that talon attack. A sword positioned for the expected alternate version would find itself guarding against an attack that would never come and ignoring the attack that did. Jaune might have had a large aura reserve, but it was dropping fast. He couldn't play it safe anymore.

Abandoning all his defensive, Jaune charge forward using his shield as a battering ram. He struck the creature center mass and pushed it back as it brought its talons and sword around the slash at Jaune's back. Jaune bore through it knowing if he had any chance of survival he needed to get his hands on that watch.

He dropped his shield into the Apeiron which left him with one free hand to grab the watch which he was in a perfect position to do. His arm shot forward and his fingers wrapped around the golden pendant—and they burned!

It was like the watch was made of magma. His fingers blistered as the heat literally cooked through his aura. Jaune had to let go. It was the last thing he wanted to do, but if he kept holding on he felt like his hand would melt all the way to the bone.

Even though the watch kept on ticking, the creature was not clearly happy about having its item of power touched. Before Jaune could examine his now crispy red hand, a feathery leg plowed into his stomach. No soft mud body here. It felt like he had been hit with a steel beam. The air rushed from his lungs and as he was lifted up and backward.

He was heading for a crash course to one of the pyramid shrines and braced himself for what would definitely be a hard smack on the harsh angles. Instead, the stone of the pyramid moved to avoid him, paying him back for his architectural tests, and letting him fall inside the pyramid onto the just as hard stone floor.

The creature jumped in after him, arms spread wide making it look more like a murderous bird than ever before, and once it was through, the stone closed back up plunging Jaune into complete darkness. With no sense of sight or direction, Jaune rolled to the side as fast as he could. He heard the thud of metal on stone from the spot where he had probably just been as he worked his way back to his feet.

He was still trying to catch his breath as his hand dove into his belt pouches for his flashlight. He didn't have time to think. He only knew that he was already on his back foot when he could see everything coming at him. If he was left in the dark then he was going to get mauled.

Luckily, Jaune was as organized as ever and managed to grab the flashlight in under a second. Unfortunately, when he turned it on, he was only able to see the overhead swing of the creature talon blades before they sliced his flashlight into four sections leaving Jaune with only the handle and no light.

He discarded the useless tool, regretting not grabbing that light crystal right about now, and manifested his shield back keeping it directly in from of him as he backed away. He was hoping to get his back to the pyramid wall. If Cryphilictal was feeling gracious it might open back up and let him fight in the light, but if it wasn't then he would only have to worry about attacks from the front.

Jaune's back never found that wall. If there was any hope that the creature was suffering from the same sight problems that Jaune was, it was quickly lost when it landed a pinpoint strike on his right knee. His leg crumpled and he was reduced to half-kneeling in this void of darkness.

Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.

That sound felt like it was coming from everywhere making it useless for Jaune to try and track his foe using it. He tried using his shield to cover his body but with no sight and his right leg not cooperating, he was worse off than a fish in a barrel. He was a fish that had already been placed on the cutting board.

What happened next was what Jaune could only describe as the worst beating of his life.

Blades rode across him like a farmer trying to plow a field. His aura strained and if he could see his scroll's aura reader it would be hitting the red. If this was a spar the match would have been called. If this was a tournament fight the audience would have been horrified and booed his opponent for such a violent beat down.

This wasn't either of those. There was no ref to step in and there was no way to call a timeout. All he could do was curl up and try to protect his most valuable parts. Once upon a time, a recently rejected Jaune had tried to save a Neapolitan colored girl from a bunch of thugs and had ended up in a similar position. It felt like so much has changed since then and yet nothing had.

Tears ran down his cheeks. Not from the pain although it was intense, but from his own failure. If it were Emerald or Yang they wouldn't have let this happen. They were strong enough to beat this thing. No wonder Emerald had been so worried. She knew just how weak he really was.

Why did she even put up with him?

 _'Because there's a certain charm to guys who beat their heads against a wall so much that they actually knock it down.'_

Yang had said that to him, didn't she? Not so subtlety implying he was completely stubborn. Well, he didn't feel very stubborn right now. If he was offered the chance to leave this place with Emerald and Yang, he would probably take it despite what it would mean for Ruby.

Huh, only 'probably.' Here he was at the end of his life and he would only _probably_ take that offer. Maybe he really was that stubborn because even though he knew that thought was incredibly stupid, it felt so right

Why? Because he had promised Yang he would help her save her sister…actually hadn't he made another promise. A promise to himself to tell Emerald how he felt once everything was back to normal.

If he died here, he wouldn't be able to keep either of those and if there was one thing Jaune always said.

An Arc never goes back on their word!

It would be silly to say that these thoughts or the ever-popular "power of love" gave Jaune more strength, but it did invigorate him to use the strength he had left. Even when his aura was so deleted that it could no longer completely protect him from the strikes and swings that cut into his skin and rip away his blood and flesh, Jaune pushed himself to his hands and knees, ignoring the agony that shot through his burned hand and pushing through the blade that dug into his side.

He could still move and if he could still move than he had no excuse to give up. Emerald would never forgive him if he did. He dug into his belt pouch one more time and grabbed a piece of chalk. In the darkness, he had no idea what color it was.

That didn't stop him from starting to draw the simplest etch he could using his back to protect his creation. The first thing he needed was to be able to see which meant the color he was looking for was either red, for fire, or white, for light. He was hoping for the red since he knew etches could be a little iffy when it came to pure light. If he didn't get either he would just grab another and try again.

He'd keep trying until he couldn't try any longer.

Even in the pitch-black darkness and suffering for the continuing onslaught, Jaune was positive he could draw the etch. He had drawn so many that at this point he could just let his hand do its thing. He was about to finish it when the creature's foot kicked his hand off course and cause his pinky finger to dislocate.

Jaune bit down his scream. He had no idea if the creature had internally done that to obstruct him or if it had just been a coincidence, but now he had to restart. Despite his familiarly with his etches he wasn't going to try and find the exact spot where he had left off.

He positioned his body even further above his drawing to protect it and was rewarded with what was probably the back of the talon blade gauntlet smashing into his face. His aura did the best it could but buckled under the strike. Jaune felt his cheek collapse and a tooth was shot loose, gobbled up by the void around him. His mouth filled with blood that ran to ground, but through it all, Jaune kept his hand steady.

The last line was drawn and Jaune prayed harder than he had ever prayed for anything that it would be the right one.

Unbelievably, his prayer was answered. A ball of flames exploded from the etch, searing Jaune's chest but giving him the light he so desperately needed, but it wouldn't last long. If he was going to do something, he would have to do it now.

Rolling onto his back, Jaune gazed upon his assailant for the first time in what felt like forever. Jaune had kind of been hoping that the sudden fire would stun the creature for a moment but that wasn't the case. It didn't seem bothered at all as it raised its short sword to deliver a plunging strike.

The fire was already close to fading and with it Jaune's only hope of survival. His options were limited, so he just did the first thing that came to mind. From his place on the ground, his sword slashed at the creature's left ankle. It tried to pull away, but while it might have been unaffected by the flash of light, it had been wailing on him for a while now without having to worry about defending itself, so when Jaune swung the creature's reaction was just too slow.

The creature's ankle was severed easily leaving it without a foot as it toppled over. All Jaune had to do now was to catch the creature's waist on the way down and hopefully, it would be over.

TOCK!

The creature that had been falling towards Jaune's sword was now back to standing tall, on both feet, with its sword leveled at Jaune chest. "No," he cried aware that his one chance had just been taken from him.

The fire he had summoned was pretty much dead at this point, so all he could see was the last remaining reflections off the creature's watch and blades as the short sword came down to him. His light would probably be completely gone by the time the blade priced his heart and kill him, so Jaune made to decision to lunge up to greet it.

He grabbed the sword by the blade his aura crackling for a brief moment before breaking completely. Still, Jaune held on and even yanked the weapon forward, the creature along with it. The blade cut so deep into his finger that he thought it might serve them, but he kept pulling.

The watch was nothing more than a golden arc in the darkness at this point, but when it got close enough Jaune thrust his sword towards it. Crocea Mors scraped against something as it ascended, probably the creature's talon blades as it tried to block, but that didn't stop it from reaching its destination.

Jaune's sword stabbed into the watch ending the infuriating tick forever, but the moment it did the damn thing exploded engulfing the room in a sea of blue and green flames several magnitudes bigger than the fire Jaune had made.

He was thrown into a wall, which did not open, and felt the air leave his lungs as the flames danced around. He ducked low aware that his shirt was now on fire. Smoke quickly filled the top of the enclosed pyramid and after rolling to put his shirt out, Jaune hugged the wall looking for a spot that would open for him.

Jaune didn't have any trouble seeing now, but besides the blazing inferno, he didn't spot anything. Of his opponent, it looked like the only things left from it were a few burning feathers flying through the air and a partially melted and twisted gauntlet.

The heat beat on his face and the flames greedily ate up the last remaining oxygen. Just as Jaune felt like he could take it no more the stone wall finally open to let him out, and he didn't hesitate to jump through.

He belly-flopped on the road leading to the upside-down tower. A plump cloud followed him out before the pyramid closed itself up again creating a furnace that would cook anything to ash inside.

Jaune laid there for a long time worrying that the creature would still be alive somehow and exit the furnace to deliver the final blow. It was only after he was sure that wouldn't happen did Jaune release a sigh of relief.

He had won.

However, now that the immediate danger was gone the damage from his fight made itself known in full.

Everything hurt. His back and sides were a bloody mess of cuts and stabs, and his chest along with his left arm was charred red with the fingers he had used to grab the blade feeling like they were hanging on by a thread. On his right was the dislocated pinkly which compared to everything else didn't hurt as much, but seeing his finger sticking out at an unnatural forty-fine degree angle made him feel sick.

He would have liked nothing more than to just lay there on the cool stone road for days, but he had to get up. He had to for everyone's sake. He placed his arms at his side and did a half pushup to raise himself off the ground. His whole body protested the idea, pain running through his veins in more abundance than blood.

It took him three agonizing minutes to get himself back on his feet and even then, it felt like he could fall off them at any moment. His gaze was entirely focused on his feet. An entire army of monsters could have been building up around him and he wouldn't have any idea. He just needed to watch his feet and place one foot in front of the other. As long as he could do that, everything would be alright.

He stumbled along the street with simple movements and even simpler thoughts.

Just keep moving. Right foot, left foot. Go as slow as he needed. Don't think about tripping or falling. Ignore the pain. Emerald and Yang are waiting. Get to the gondola.

It wasn't a long journey, but time was becoming a very subjective element to Jaune right about now. He stepped inside the boat and collapsed into the seat, his face flushed and his lungs working overtime. If the ferryman wanted to kill him there would be no easier time, but Jaune's guide sat silent and still waiting for its command.

Jaune tried to give it one. "Take me to…" _to where?_ Obviously, he wanted to go back to see Emerald and Yang but where were they exactly. Jaune called the building they were in a guardhouse, but that wasn't an official title and even if it was, Cryphilictal probably had more than one guardhouse. He needed something more specific, so on a whim caused mostly by blood loss Jaune said the most specific he could. "Take me to Emerald and Yang."

"I apologize but the canals don't run close to the cliffside where your companions are staying. The closest I can take would be the outer district. Would you like me to take you there?"

So, the ferryman did know where the girls were. That wasn't great news but it wasn't something he could change. What he could change was his request. Did he want to go to the outer district? Not only did he not know what that was, but could he really make a trip from there to the guardhouse? Honestly, he thought not. The ramp up the guardhouse alone would probably be too much for him.

Then where else could he go? He didn't know this city and he was… _dying._

No, don't think like that! He wasn't dying. He was hurt, hurt real bad but he would survive. Once his aura was back up, he'd feel a lot better. Right now, it was Emerald and Yang who needed help. They were the ones dying, and where did people go when they were dying? A hospital.

Would the ferryman even know what that word meant? Screw it, if the ferryman understood specifics then Jaune might as well be as specific as possible. "Take me to the place where I can cure Emerald and Yang…and me," he added after a little thought.

"As you wish," the empty cloak said and set them off once again.

Jaune leaned his head on the gondola's side feeling a bit chilly now that his shirt was less of a shirt and more of a torn a burned piece of cloth hanging around his neck. His tongue played with the gap in his mouth feeling up the place where his tooth had once been. At least focusing on that took a bit of his focus away from the pain, not much but enough to get him to relax a bit.

It allowed him to notice that there was something in his hand. When he brought it up to his face he was a little shocked. It was the chalk that had saved his life, apparently, he had clung to it this entire time without realizing it, but that wasn't what was strange. He had prayed for a red piece of chalk for the fire, and a fire was what he got, but the chalk in his hand while stain red with his blood was undeniably brown. His pray hadn't been answered and yet it worked out regardless, or maybe it had been answered and that's why the rules had broken in his favor.

It was very curious, but Jaune didn't have the stomach for another mystery at the moment. He would table it for later.

He returned the piece of chalk to his belt pouch, and when he looked back up a saw a creature covered in grey feathers jump off the roof of a nearby building. Jaune didn't think it was the same creature that attacked him, but it was the same type of creature, drawn by the tower's gong, and it was about to land right on top of him!

In a panic, Jaune tried to manifest his sword, but his hand wasn't quite working the way he wanted to and he couldn't get his finger to form the proper shape.

Then before Jaune's life even had a chance to flash before his eyes, the ferryman brought his oar around faster than anything Jaune had ever seen, even faster than the shadow hand back at the holding pen, and smacked the bird-like creature down in the canal.

There was a soft plop but no splash as the creature went under. Jaune looked over the edge of the boat into the clear blue water expected the see the creature swimming back up, but it wasn't. It was just gone as if it had fallen out of the world instead of into a waterway.

"Pesky little things. Beings with a body but no mind," the ferryman said with what Jaune thought might be a bit of disdain.

 _Does that mean you a being with a mind but no body?_ Jaune didn't say as he leaned back into his seat.

The rest of the ride was silent just as the first had been, but it was a lot longer. Jaune was fine with that since it gave his aura some time to replenish and heal him. It wouldn't do it all, he was going to need some actual medical attention from the damage he took, but his aura would at least stop the bleeding.

Jaune was intent to just wait it out when the canal suddenly opened up to a massive lake that had been hidden by Cryphilictal's buildings when Jaune had been gazing from above. The openness alone was so refreshing and the waterfall running at the back was a sight to behold now that he could see it up close.

But, none of that compared to what stood at the center of the lake.

Sitting on its own island was the most beautiful, yet intimidating, building Jaune had ever seen. It pristine light blue walls and pointed towers made it look like something that had been ripped straight out of a storybook.

It was a temple. No, temple was too shallow of a word. The building that stood in the center of the lake was a cathedral.

Thee Cathedral.

* * *

Memories of the past, the ice cream girl (part 1 of 2)

 _The girl that would later be known as Neo was a pretty normal girl that you could find anywhere. At least she thought so. So, what if she was short for a middle schooler, her growth spurt was coming soon. She knew it was and then her friends would stop teasing her._

 _Yes, she was a normal girl that you could find anywhere. She liked to talk with her friends, go shopping, eat ice cream and flirting with cute boys. If there was one thing that wasn't normal about her, it was her family._

 _Her mom had once been married to a member of the Vale Council. Lived the life of luxury and had everything she could ever want. Then she had an affair and all that went away. Her husband got a divorce and kick her out in record time. He had also sent their son, Neo's older half-brother, packing with her. Didn't want any evidence of their marriage, or something like that._

 _Mom held up with her new lover and he stayed around just long enough to produce Neo and then disappeared. So, that was her family. A single mother with two children from two different men. Not the best situation, but there were plenty of families that could make the best of it and love each other just as well._

 _Neo's family was not one of those, and it all stemmed from one person. Her mother wasn't the only one to lose everything. Her half-brother, Oasis (he hated that name), had also lost his life of luxury, and who did he blame for that. Their mom of course._

 _Maybe he wasn't even wrong to think that, but as he got older and stronger, and his scratching and tantrums turn into punches and kicks, things couldn't be considered normal. Oasis took charge of the family and leveraged his power over their terrified mom whenever he felt like it, and if mom wasn't there to relieve his anger on then there was always little Neo._

 _She tried to avoid her half-brother as much as possible, but he always got her eventually either when he caught her coming home from school, or when he actively sought her out. It usually started with him grabbing her hair and yanked it so hard that it felt it was being pulled out. Then he'd drag her to wherever he wanted, usually the living room, and dish out whatever abuse he had planned for that day._

 _She always begged him not to do it. Looking into his cold brown eyes as she cried and pleaded with him, but it never changed his mind. What else could she do? She couldn't tell anyone since her mother protected Oasis from any authorities that came around. She didn't have anywhere to run away to, and she definitely couldn't fight him. He was only a little less than twice her age and he had aura, a present from his dad, a symbol of status, back when he was living the high life._

 _Normally it was just a regular beating. A couple punches to the stomach and a few kicks to the side. It hurt but Neo had learned to live with it. It was when her brother got creative that it really got bad._

 _The worst one by far was an election night where Oasis' dad won re-election in a landslide. He was more pissed than Neo had ever seen him. He had dragged her outside, made her strip naked, grabbed the backyard hose, and sprayed her with freezing cold water for minutes on end. Then he locked her in the empty tool shed and left her there on that cold winter night._

 _She really had thought she was going to die that night. Her fingers and toes had turned purple and her skin had felt like it was going to crack open. She probably would have died if her mother hadn't worked up the courage to free her when Oasis fell asleep._

 _But, the event that changed everything and made Neo realize she had to do something came on a normal sunny day._

 _Neo had just come home from school and saw her brother standing in the entrance. Neo immediately braced herself for whatever he was going to do to her, but he didn't do anything. He just stood there looking honestly a little patient._

 _"What do you need," Neo had said trying to sound as submissive as possible._

 _"Follow me," her half-brother ordered._

 _He led her to the living room and there she saw her mom's corpse beaten bloody and smashed over the living room table. Her head was cracked open; bits of skull and brain were on the floor and one of her eyes was dripping out of her socket like a raindrop._

 _Neo fell to her knees and wet herself a bit. She knew her brother was a monster but this was, this was…_

 _"You and I are going to clean this up, and then tonight we're going to have to bury her somewhere," he said colder and sharper than the Atlas wind._

 _Neo knew she had to do something—anything! Because if she didn't she'd be next._

* * *

 **An: So, a quick note here about aura. I've always considered it to be a sort of membrane around the user's body. When it's full it's a very thick layer, but as it gets chipped away the layer becomes thinner and thinner as aura from the parts of the body that didn't get hit move in to fill in the aura lost from the part that did. As a person's aura gets low the amount of power to needed punch through a certain section gets less and less. So, a person can still take actual damage even if their aura isn't technically broken. It just means the aura in that spot wasn't thick enough to block an attack although it still dampens it. So, if an opponent launches a strong enough attack it can penetrate someone's aura even if they're close to full and without actually shaving off every percentage of that person's aura. (Ex. Adam cutting off Yang's arm or Pyrrha chopping Penny in pieces.) Aura is only completely broken when there isn't enough left to form the membrane at all.**

 **I'll admit this may be me playing a little fast and loose with the rules, but it isn't like Rooster Teeth haven't done the same, and I think this is a good way to handle things. It made it so Jaune could actually get hurt in his battle instead of me having to write that he got hit and it was painful but his aura protected him. On the other hand, if I had Jaune break his aura much sooner then there really wouldn't have been a justification for why he didn't get killed during the beat down.**

 **Sorry for only explaining this now, but my in-depth thoughts on how aura functions hadn't really needed to come up until now.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Beta** : ShadowMeister234

 **An: I apologize that this chapter took so long but both ShadowMeister234 and I were caught in our colleges' finals week so things were delayed, but on top of that, I've also been working on a little side project, so stay tuned till the end of the chapter for a surprise.**

* * *

When the gondola finally pulled next to the cathedral, it was no longer the beauty that Jaune was fixated on. It was the number of steps he was going to have to climb to make it to the front door. By his quick count, there were probably a hundred. He looked towards his guide with a despairing look, but of course, he didn't receive any sympathy from the empty cloak.

He turned back to face the stairs as his battered body whined at the thought, but this place could allegedly cure Emerald's and Yang's illness so whether it be a hundred steps or a thousand he had to make the climb.

He stepped off the boat and was immediately hit with a sense of vertigo that almost sent him tumbling back into the gondola, or worse, into the water. He just barely managed to stabilize himself and avoid ending his journey right then in there. It didn't stop his legs from wobbling like jello though, and he didn't think he had ever wanted to just lay down so badly in his entire life. Still, he took that first step onto the stone stairway and then another and then another.

It was painfully slow going in more ways than one, and twice Jaune thought he might pass out. But by some miracle, his feet carried him to the top. The doors in front of him rose to twice his height and seemed to glitter a bluish-white. There were no handles or knobs to grasp onto so Jaune's only option was to push which he did more by leaning on the door than by using his arm strength.

Thankfully, it didn't matter. The door swung open easily, happy to let him in. A gust of freezing wind slapped him in the face as he entered, but once he was fully inside, the door swinging shut behind him, he saw something he never thought he'd see in this city.

Carpet, real soft, fuzzy carpet. It was blue in color with gold interlocking circles acting as its pattern. He bent down to touch it just to make sure it was real and wasn't disappointed when his fingers caught some woolen fibers. It wasn't just the flooring either. The walls had trimming and a chandelier hung from the ceiling that could have been modern if it wasn't using cavern light crystal in replacement of bulbs.

It was nothing like anything else he had seen in Cryphilictal. This place felt vivid and lived in. There was even a table, an actual table that wasn't something just growing out of the wall or floor, off to his left, and it had a pad of paper and an ink quill on it. When he walked up to it he saw the paper was segmented with lines remanding Jaune heavily of a check-in sheet.

That was probably exactly what it was and it only reinforced his idea that this room was a front lobby. There were no names on the paper and Jaune might have been tempted to add his own but didn't have the option because despite there being an ink quill, there was no ink in sight.

Taking a step back, Jaune regarded the lobby in its entirety. It was much wider than it was long and besides the table, there wasn't any other furniture. There were three doors on the wall opposite the entrance all spaced pretty far apart from each other. They weren't made from stone, like the entrance door or every other door in Cryphilictal, but were made from the same light-colored wood that the gondola seemed to be made from. They also each had a handle that definitely looked like brass.

This room really could have fit in at any slightly antique building in Vale. The familiarly was a pleasant change from the stone world outside, but it also brought its own set of worries because this room wasn't in Vale. It was in an ancient city that was who knew how many centuries old. This design was far too current for something that should have been built so long ago. He couldn't even pin this update on the moving stones because this place had a lot more than just stones, carpet for one. It was something to keep an eye on, but out of all the things this city could do, a slightly modern aesthetic wasn't at the top of the list.

What was currently topping the list of priorities was deciding which one of the doors he should go through. A wrong choice could easily mean his death, but it wasn't like there were any distinguishing features to help aid in his decision. The doors were identical in every way besides there position. Thinking too hard about it wouldn't get him anywhere and waste time he didn't have, so he just went through the door closest to him.

The middle door swung open without a sound and Jaune felt pretty stupid when he immediately realized that all the doors open into the same place just at different ends. He stood in a sanctuary which wasn't surprising considering he had designated the building as a cathedral from its outward appearance.

What was surprising was just how massive the room was. This one-room must have taken up the majority of the building and looked big enough to fit Whitley's penthouse ten times over. The entire population of one of Vale's districts could probably fit in the twelve columns of wooden pews that each consisted of who knew how many rows. The side and back walls were filled with massive stained glass windows that couldn't have actually open up to the outside or Jaune would have seen them.

At the far end from him, there was a circular rise and on top of it, where an alter would have been in any other place of worship, was a statue not made from stone but from ice. It was hard to make out exactly what it was from the very back, but as Jaune moved closer, into the actual area of congregation, it became almost unnaturally clear.

The ice sculptor was of a man, a very old man with a beard that touched the floor, wearing a cloak that was very similar to what the ferryman wore, or more accurately, what the ferryman was. The ice-man had both arms stretched upwards and outwards like he was praising the heavens, and in each hand, he held something. In his left, was what kind of looked like a lamp with a handle on top, but Jaune wouldn't have placed in bets on that. The item in the sculptor's right hand was a lot easier to place. It was a flame, and even though it was made from ice it still looked vibrant and hot.

At the base of the sculpture was a plaque, but just like everything else in this city, it was written in a language Jaune didn't understand. Unfortunate because if there was one thing Jaune felt he really needed to understand it was that plaque. His guide had promised him a place where he could cure his friends, but he didn't see anything here. There weren't any more doors to try and it wasn't like there were a couple of syringes laying around with a "Cure-All" label.

Was he supposed to pray for their health and safety?  
It wasn't an awful idea considering where he was, but he wasn't ready to prostrate in front of that sculpture until he didn't have any other option left. Plus, with the way his body was aching, if he got down onto his knees, he might not be able to get back up.

Maybe the ferryman could translate that plaque for him? Jaune cringed at the thought of going all the way back down those stairs, but if he found out what this said, it would be a start. Assuming his guide would be willing to translate.

He stepped up onto the circular platform in front of the sculpture. If he was going to have the ferryman translate for him then he would obviously need to show him the plaque. Not the actual plaque no, no, no, even he could feel that trying to cut the plaque free would be a death sentence, but a sketch of the plaque.

Jaune pulled out his journal and turned to an empty page. He was going to get a second one soon, or maybe just a notepad, since this one was almost completed filled. He bent down to make sure he was going to be drawing every symbol correctly; then, something cold gripped his shoulder. Needless to say, it startled him and he fell forward kneeling before the statue after all.

He already had a sinking suspension as to what had grabbed him, but he looked up anyways. Sure enough, the ice statue had changed positions. Now the old man was leaned forward. In his left hand, he still held the lamp, but the flame that should have been held in right was completely missing. Instead, it was grasping the air in front of him where Jaune's shoulder had just been.

"Guess your shy," Jaune nervously joked as he worked his way back to his feet which was much more of an ordeal than it should have been. He kept his eyes in the sculptor while his legs and knees creaked upward and noticed that the sculptor wasn't entirely made of ice. In replacement of the old man's eyes, there were two milky white gems, and even though there were no pupils it still felt like they were staring right at him.

Once Jaune's legs completed their task, he backed away from the sculptor's potential strike range. "I was told that I could find a cure for my friends in this place," Jaune spoke. "Can you help them?"

Once again, the statue's eyes did not have pupils but it sure seemed that he did a bit more than just imagine them rolling.

"Please, I don't think they'll last much longer and I don't know what to do."

The sculptor remained expressionless.  
"Is there something you need from me? I'll do…" Jaune choked on his words knowing what they might actually mean in a place like this, but he said them anyway. "I'll do anything."

Nothing.

Jaune clasped his hands, bowed his and closed his eyes. "I'm begging you. I need to save them: Emerald, Yang, and Ruby too."

Still nothing.

Jaune sighed. Maybe he was just making a fool of himself. Just because the sculptor moved didn't mean it would or even could listen to him. He would probably have better luck going back to the ferryman and praying to him for answers.

Yet, when Jaune lowered his hands and opened his eyes, it turned out something had happened. The sculptor was back in its original position, but now there was a staircase in front of it leading down. It was hard to tell if the staircase had just appeared there or if the sculptor had moved back to reveal it.

Jaune supposed it didn't matter. The important thing was he had a path forward and he couldn't risk it closing by hesitating. He swiftly descended the stairs without looking back, and it was because of that he never noticed the figure watching him from one of the back pews.

* * *

It was maze down here. Doors identical to the ones upstairs lined every wall. Jaune tried to open one but for the first time since entering this city, it didn't budge. He got the same results when he tried a second one.

He didn't try to force his way through. If there was anything in those rooms that he needed then he had a feeling they would have been open. But, which door did he need and how would he know when he found it?

They were signs sketched into the wall, assumedly giving directions, but the symbols were still things Jaune couldn't read, so he was left to pick and choose his path at random. He probably should have notated his path in the same way he had when following the street signs, but his hand itched from the burns, his dislocated pinky throbbed, and honestly, he just couldn't be bothered.

He had been wandering around down here long enough that he knew he must have gone beyond the island's perimeter and was somewhere under the lake. If he took the time to mark down every twist and turn he would be here forever.

As hallways bled into one another and Jaune was beginning to that he was just a hamster on a wheel, he found himself in a corridor with no door on either side. There was just one double door at the end. It wasn't like the other doors. It appeared to be made out of the same metal that made up the street signs above. When he walked up to touch it, he found it surprisingly warm.

This was the door he needed. If it wouldn't open on its own then this was the one he'd force his way through. No need though because just as he believed it, the door he _needed_ opened without a hitch.

Entering the room, he realized that he had jumped aesthetics again. Gone was the wood and stone. Instead metal took the place of every material in this space from the floor to the ceiling. Bronze colored pipes sprouted from the walls zigzagged along at forty-five-degree angles before retracting into some other portion of the wall or floor. The rumbling of what sounded like a fan reverberated around the whole room and a hiss of steam shot off from somewhere in the back.

Jaune thought this might be what the boiler room of a large airship, or just regular ship, might look like. It was certainly hot enough for it. He was already sweating as he stood on a metal mesh balcony above it all. It wasn't a large balcony and it had stairs leading down to ground level, but there was a console with dials, knobs, and levers up there with him.

He inspected it for about a second before concluding that he didn't have any hope of figuring out what it did. Messing around with it also seemed like a terrible idea. Jaune left it alone and headed down into the bowels.

He really didn't know what to think of this room. It was a lot more mechanical and a lot less magical than he had been expecting. It felt more like a room you only went into when there was maintenance to be done. Hardly a place to find a cure for Emerald and Yang. He didn't really know what he should be looking for.

That's why he was so surprised when he found it so easily and obviously.

It wasn't quite in the center of the room, but it was close enough to signify its significance. He hadn't noticed it before because of the wall of pipes between it and the balcony, but if he went back now he was sure he could spot it.

It was a grey dome just a bit taller than him but wider than a bullhead. It was perforated with holes about the size of his fist all around. There was some kind of light or spark within each of the holes that caused the dome to glow a bit, but it was the things coming out of the dome that drew his attention. Emerging from four of the holes were arrows of light. Two were pointing out from the top so close together that they were nearly touching. Those glowed a pale red. A third also pointed outwards from the top but in a different direction to the other two. That one was a sickly yellow. The last one was a calm blue and was nearly parallel to the floor since it was pointed directly at Jaune.

It made him a bit uncomfortable so he stepped to the side only for the arrow to follow him. The hole it was emerging from changed to accommodate its movements, and Jaune supposed it was actually a different arrow that had been turned on while the other had been turned off, but it had happened so fast that it may have well been seamlessly. Like a pixel on your scroll having to change its color whenever you scrolled up or down.

Jaune actually thought he knew what this thing was, but just to make sure, he walked around the dome completely and the arrow followed him every step of the way. He manifested his journal while he did and flipped through it. He found the page he wanted and read it over.

He was almost positive this was a binder compass. Basically, a tool to track people, animals, or other things. Apparently, if you set it right you could use it to find your allies no matter where they were, or if you really knew what you were doing, your enemies. But, while the description he had written in his journal was similar to the object in front of him, there were some key differences, the size for one.

From what he had written, binder compasses were supposed to be things that you could wear on your wrist. Obviously, the one in front of him was a fair bit bigger. The fact the arrows could be different colors also wasn't mentioned, but Jaune could guess what they meant.

The two red arrows that were close to each other were almost certainly pointing to Emerald and Yang. The red color either just indicating their current condition, or and Jaune thought this much more likely, a signal to cause their current condition. Maybe that's what all the pipes in this room were for. They might be carrying spells into some sort of canon that was constantly firing with the binder compass acting as its targeting computer. Hell, maybe the compass was both the tracker and the delivery method. Jaune could easily imagine an invisible line connecting the girls to this thing and making them sick because of it.

What determined that Emerald's and Yang's arrows should be red while his was blue, he didn't know. Then there was that yellow arrow to consider. If all the other arrows were reserved for him and his friend, then it was a safe guess that the fourth arrow was tracking something similar to them. Another person, an outsider, or more specifically, an intruder. Could it be the person whose campsite they had stumbled upon on the way here?

The yellow arrow had moved a bit since Jaune had first seen it, so whoever it was they were still somewhat on the move. Did they have an illness that was milder than the one the girls were given, or did the yellow mean a different ailment altogether?

That question and many others didn't have an answer he could find here, and really the _what_ and the _why_ of this process weren't that important. It was the _how_ , and the _how_ was sitting right in front of him. Whether the binder compass was the cause or just the tracking device destroying it should end the disease that was ravaging Emerald and Yang, if not immediately then at least over time.

The ferryman had promised a cure and this was how Jaune was going to administer it.

He took a few steps back from the binder compass. The console back on the balcony probably controlled it, but Jaune didn't dare touch it for fear of making things worse. Better to destroy it completely. It definitely wasn't something he could beat down with his sword, but it wasn't like it was a fortress. A big enough etch would be enough to tear it apart.

He pulled out a red piece of chalk, cringing at seeing his bent pinky, and squatted down. Luckily, he had plenty of room to work with since all the pipes veered away from the binder compass-like they were afraid of it. It was possible, and maybe even probable, that they connected to the compass somewhere under the floor, but didn't matter to Jaune. The only thing he was focused on was how much floor space he had and how easily the chalk glided across it.

Jaune didn't do too many of these large-scale etches, mostly since they were impractical, so it took him a while to get the outline to form a seamless circle, but once that was done, it went a lot smoother.

However, a nagging discomfort began to grow as he worked, and the culprit was the blue arrow that measured his every step. It was silent as it followed him, but turning his back to it didn't help relieve the stress. If anything, not being able to see it only made it worse. He slipped in a few spots he really shouldn't have and had to waste precious time and energy wiping the mistake away with the remaining sleeve of his shirt.

It wasn't until he only had about a fourth left to go did he noticed the change. His arrow was growing darker. He had been questioning it for a while, but every time he just dismissed it as his worry making him see things. Now, it was undeniable. What had once been the color of a bright sky blue was now closer in shade to his eyes and it was only getting darker.

Jaune picked up the pace. Somehow the compass knew, or suspected, what he was doing, and it wasn't happy about it. He still felt fine, but who knew how much longer that would last. His hand moved as fast as he would let the as he kept taking glances at the arrow. He wished he hadn't made the etch so big. He knew he probably could have gotten away with a much smaller one, but he had wanted to play it safe. Now he was cursing himself for it.

The arrow was getting darker quicker now. The compass was growing more confident in what it believed Jaune was doing.

He was close to being finished just a few more arcs and symbols. He was hardly even looking at the etch anymore, trusting his hand to do the work as his eyes focused on the arrow that could only barely be called blue.

His arm itched, his hand ached and sweat ran down his forehead. There was just a little bit left.

The arrow was almost completely black and it was starting to pulsate. Jaune was adding the final line. If he had made one mistake or one unluckily drop of sweat had softened a chalk line then it was over.

He could hear his heart through his ear as he made the final stroke.

The black arrow also gave one final beat, and it was at that moment that Jaune realized they weren't really arrows at all. They were spears.

The pitch-black spear shot out faster than even a veteran huntsman could hope to dodge. It carved through his recovering aura like it was nothing, and pierced his left side. Blood and flesh sprayed everywhere as quite a bit of Jaune's abdomen was blown apart. Behind him, the floor shattered as the spear impacted it.

The pain was immeasurable and Jaune collapsed to the floor, but as he was falling an explosion gripped the top of the binder compass.

Just as the spear had torn through him, the etch's magic tore through the compass. Shards of hot metal sprayed all over the room. Some pierced the floor or the surrounding pipes earning a loud pop of gas.

Some may have even struck Jaune himself, but he wouldn't know. The pain had already devolved into numbness across his whole and he understood what that meant if the growing pool of crimson, he could see out of the corner of his eye, wasn't enough of an indication.

This was the end of the line.

Served him right after cheating death back at the tower. No thoughts of unfulfilled promises were going to get him out of this one. He shouldn't have pushed his luck, but if destroying the compass freed Emerald and Yang then he thought it might be alright.

He watched the last pieces of the binder compass burn themselves out. It was little more than a mound of metal now. No glowing spears, no nothing.

Hopefully, this did work, and hopefully Emerald would understand. She'd be pissed, he knew that but…well, he wouldn't be there for her to yell at. Maybe he should have been fighting to get back up—fighting to stay alive, but he felt so tired and his eyelids begged to be lowered.

Just a nap. A little sleep never hurt anybody. All he needed to do was shut his eyes…

…and so, he did.

* * *

Just as one pair of eyes closed another pair opened.

Emerald woke without any signs of the illness she had been experiencing not even a second earlier. She felt good, better than good, she felt great. She wasn't even groggy which was nothing short of a miracle since she could very vividly remember the feeling of her head wanting to explode and her intestines about ready to shoot out her stomach.

She took in her surrounds and quickly noticed that she was in a makeshift bed with her arms wrapped around, and her body pressed against, a long-haired blonde. Said blonde looked back at here with the biggest, dumbest grin she had ever seen.

"Why hello there, beautiful," Yang whispered. "I thought passing out and waking up with someone else in your bed was Uncle Qrow's thing; though, can't say I'm complaining. Hope we didn't do anything either one of us might regret."

Emerald did not blush but she did quickly remove her arms from Yang's stomach and scooted back. Yang laughed, "Aww, come on. Girls are allowed touchy-feely. It's only guys that have to worry about 'oh-no people are going to think I'm gay moments,' so come on back to mama Yang. I'll keep you warm."

"If you can joke like that then I assume you're feeling fine too?"

"Who said I was joking?" she winked.

Emerald groaned, pushed off the blankets she was under, and stood up. She kind of regretted that a second later as the cold of the place hit her skin. Yang got to her feet too but kept a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Emerald had to fight back a shiver lest Yang notice and start making jokes again.

Thankfully, she was starting to look a little more serious. "Where are we?" she asked as her eyes wander around the strange stone room.

"I think Jaune brought us here?" Emerald mused. She could remember exploring Cryphilictal and getting into the room with the riddle door and trying to open it, but everything past that was very fuzzy. She was pretty sure they had figured out a way to open it and then went through, but how far they had gone or where they ended up was lost to her.

"Let's look around. Maybe we can find something to help explain things," Yang said.

It took her a total of one step to knock over a water bottle that was sitting next to them. It didn't spill but it did fall on top of a piece of paper with some writing on it. "What do you know, I'm an amazing detective!" she exclaimed although Emerald could still pick out the hints that she was trying to cover her embarrassment.

Yang picked up the paper and Emerald stood close by so she could read it over her shoulder.

 _I left this note here in case you woke up while I was away. I'm almost positive that whatever is happening to the two of you isn't some ordinary sickness, so I'm going down into Cryphilictal to try and find something to help you. I'm not planning on being gone long but if I don't find anything I'm going to try again and its possible one of you could wake during one of those. I'll leave a mark in the top right-hand corner so you know how many expeditions I've been on._ (There weren't any marks in the corner. Not a single one.) _I know it's not the best idea to go down there alone, but I don't have many other options. I can't just sit here and watch you fade away. If you're reading this then wait for me to come back, but if I don't come back in more than six hours then something happened to me down there and you two should leave this place._

 _Yang, I know that will be hard for you since we came all this way to help your sister, but this place is dangerous. I can feel it. Emerald was right, this was a mistake. You might think she's going through unbearable pain right now, but I bet she'll go through worse if she finds out her sister died trying to help her. So, if I don't make it back, get out of here and find some other way to cure your sister._

 _Jaune_

Emerald didn't like this note. She didn't like it at all.

"What do you think he means by going _down_ to Cryphilictal?" Yang asked. "Weren't we already in Cryphilictal?"

"I don't know. Let's just go with your suggestion and look around. Jaune might still be around here." And if he was, she was going to have a few words for him.

He was not. It didn't take long at all for the girls to sweep the house. They found their backpacks piled in front of what they assumed was the front door but basically nothing else. After they removed the makeshift barrier and put on their shoes, they headed out just to see where they were.

It was quite the shock when they left and saw the massive underground cavern and the city it contained. They gazed locked-jawed at the spiraling city taking in all the details that Jaune had witness before them.

"This can't be real." Yang gasped. "I mean someone would have said something. Is this what you and Jaune do? Are there places like this all-over Remnant!"

"I doubt it," Emerald said equally astounded despite having much more experience with the unknown world than Yang did. "This place is special. Most times magic is a subtle thing. Little oddities in everyday life that if you catch on and follow them down then you find the big stuff, but this place is overflowing with magic."

"You can sense magic?"

"No, it's not like that, but you can't tell me you don't feel it."

"I can definitely feel something that I don't like very much. Is that really magic? I thought it would feel more…well magical."

"Sorry to burst your bubble. This isn't a fairy tale. Magic, at least the stuff that comes out on its own and is left to itself, is dangerous and disruptive. If it wasn't, caretakers wouldn't need to exist. Though if it makes you feel better, I haven't experienced anything on this level before either."

"Yeah, this place really does seem like something to avoid. I can see why Jaune told us to leave in his note."

Emerald spun around with eyes redder than any grimm. "We're not leaving!"

Yang took a step back and held up her hands. "Woah, I wasn't saying we should. I don't care what Jaune says, I didn't come all this way for my sister just to quit before I've even tried.

"Good," Emerald huffed. Yang was right, though. This city was very dangerous and Jaune was somewhere inside. Her finger dug into her forearms at the thought.

"We should head back to the building and wait for him to come back," Yang suggested.

Emerald didn't move.

Yang grabbed her shoulder and forced Emerald to face her. "Come on, the fact that we're up and walking right now means he must have done something. He probably walking back right now. Trust me, I want to go down there too. Every second I don't spend looking for a way to help my sister is another second she's in pain, but it's better to wait for him. I'm sure he can give us insight as to what's down there."

If the situation was different and it was Ruby that was down there, Emerald knew that there would be no stopping Yang for heading down immediately, but Emerald begrudgingly agreed to go back. There was no proof that Jaune was in trouble and his note had explained to them this exact scenario. Rushing in would only be dumb and reckless regardless of how she felt, for now, they would just have to wait for his return.

* * *

Jaune did not return.

It was hard to tell how much time had passed since the light in a cavern never changed, but by Emerald's estimate, it was approaching three hours. Normally, she was a very patient person, even if Jaune might very much disagree. There were times when she had spent days scooping out the perfect mark back when she needed to do such a thing, but now she was already getting anxious.

Every minute that Jaune didn't walk through that door frustrated her in a way she had never felt before. It didn't help that there was nothing in this house to distract her. She and Yang had a meal when they realized how hungry they were, but after that, Emerald could only sit in this stone chair that was only barely preferable to the ground with Jaune's note in front of her.

She had read it over so many times that she didn't even need the paper anymore. She could recite it all with her mind. She really shouldn't have since all it did was make her mad, but like she said, there wasn't anything else for her to do.

She wasn't angry over his decision. As he said in his letter, it was do nothing or try and do something. If the positions were reversed, she would have done the same. What irritated her was that he also tried to make her decision for her. 'It would be hard for Yang to leave;' what about her!

Did that idiot really think that if something happened to him, she would just walk off without a care in the world? Did he really believe that there was any way that she would be leaving without him? If he did, then the second he walked through that door she was going to kick him in the balls. Maybe that would remind him that the whole reason she came on this stupid journey was to bring sorry ass back home.

The note curled in her hand as her fist clenched around. It was used to it as Emerald had already gone through this a few times before. It was honestly surprising that it hadn't been torn yet.

"You're not looking so hot right now," Yang said entering the room. Actually, that wasn't right. This building didn't have rooms, just an upper and a lower level. Yang had been here the whole time. She had only politely kept her distance. No more it seemed.

"What gave it away?" Emerald asked mostly just so she could say something.

"The wrinkles on your forehead for one, but mainly the way you've challenged the front door to a staring contest that you seem determined to win."

Emerald sighed and attempted to relax. She was surprised by how tense she felt. Had she really been like that for the last three hours?

"Feel better?" Yang asked.

"Do you have something important to tell me or did you just open your mouth for no reason."

"Concern over team wellness is an important enough reason, but I have a feeling you don't care about that right now, so I'll get to the point. I think we need to head down to Cryphilictal."

"You want to go look for him?"

"Him and the cure for my sister, of course. I'm honestly surprised you weren't the one to say it. Why didn't you?"

Because she wanted to believe in him. Admitting that he wasn't coming back was admitting he was in trouble. Trouble that they may already be too late to save him from. Admitting she'd been left behind. "You were the one to suggest we wait. Why the change in heart?"

"I only said that because we shouldn't start off assuming the _worst_ ," Yang didn't see Emerald eyes widen and her fingers clenched even tighter, "but it's been too long and Yang Xiao Long wasn't made for sitting around. It might not have been six hours yet, but that's far too much of a leeway. He should have been back by now."

That was all Emerald needed to hear. If even Yang believed that Jaune had been gone too long then Emerald wasn't wasting another second. Truthfully, Yang had basically been right. If she hadn't said something, Emerald wouldn't have lasted another twenty minutes before busting through that door and down into Cryphilictal.

"Then we should go," Emerald said hopping off her chair and checking her weapons.

Yang gave a satisfied smile. "I knew you'd say that, so I already packed." She threw a backpack to Emerald who noticed how light it was. "I'm leaving all the nonessentials here," she explained. "Food, water, and some equipment. From what I saw when looking over our stock it looked like Jaune did the same. Probably thought it was best to travel light and I happen to agree with him."

"You're a lot more dependable than you look," Emerald said as a genuine compliment, but not without the air of a teasing insult.

"Please, Dad and Ruby would have fallen apart if I hadn't been there," Yang paused as she seemed to remissness about something before shaking whatever it was away. "Let's get going."

"Just a moment," Emerald said scribbling a quick message on the back of Jaune's original note just in case he did come back. She placed the note on top of the supplies they were leaving behind where it would be easy for him not find. "I'm ready."

Yang held the door open as the two of them began their own expedition into the city.

* * *

Memories of the past, the ice cream girl (part 2 of 2)

 _Neo's life after her mother's murder was both better and worse. Since their mother was dead, there was no more money coming in so her half-brother had to get a job although it was a job in the loosest sense of the word. He started a gang. Made everyone call him Sir. Neo wasn't sure exactly what they did but it kept him busy, and that meant he wasn't home as much which meant Neo didn't have to endure his beating as often._

 _What she was subjected too was having to wait on him and his friends when they were over. Mostly that just meant bringing them drinks and cleaning up after them, but she could see the way his friends looked at her. Lust in their eyes and tightness in their pants. They hadn't done anything to her yet, but she knew that Oasis had noticed his friends' desires and she also knew that he was only waiting for one of them to do something worthy of getting her as a reward._

 _She was desperate to get out, and now that her mom could no longer protect her half-brother going to the authority seem like the optimal solution. The only problem was that she couldn't go through with it. Years of abuse had ingrained in a fear that made going to the police impossible. After all, the law was slow and by the time anything could be done Neo would have already suffered the same fate as her mom._

 _So, she looked for other ways, but in the end, she didn't have to do any looking at all. It came to her in a plain white envelope. It was dropped their mailbox and was addressed to her which was strange since nothing had ever been sent to her before. Inside the envelope was a single page of paper with what she could only describe as a ritual written on it. It claimed that if she performed it she would certainly escape for her half-brother._

 _She really should have thrown it away right then and there, but the fact it was addressed to her and the sender somehow knew about her situation intrigued her enough to try. The exact steps she did are lost to her now but she knew that everything she needed had been cheap enough to buy with the little money she did have._

 _The ritual was done in her room while her half-brother was out. When she completed the ritual, something was summoned. It didn't have a shape or a substance but it certainly had a presence. At first, she thought it might be something that would protect her from her brother._

 _How stupid she had been._

 _The something wasted no time attacking although it was really more like a possession. Even to this day, she can still feel it clawing down her throat. First, it took her voice then it took her morals and played with her mind._

 _She suddenly found herself with these incredibility violent urges. She grabbed a knife from the kitchen, one she could remember being used on her own skin from time to time, and waited._

 _Oasis and one of his friends came back later that day. The moment his friend stepped through the front door she pounced on him and brought the knife to his stomach again and again and again. She was like a wild animal devouring her meal. Blood flew everywhere and she continued long after her prey was dead, and the worst part was, she enjoyed every second of it._

 _Once her arms were too sore to even lift the knife, she looked up to her half-brother hoping to see the same fear in dread he had made her experience for so long. Instead, he just stood there smiling, and for the first and only time, the something that possessed her had felt fear._

 _Oasis didn't say anything as he stepped away from the door and motioned for her to leave. It was an invitation she quickly accepted and she fled into the night._

 _After that, she had a brief stint as a serial killer known as "The Beast" because of the way she also mutilated her victims' bodies. Then she tried to become a huntress thinking she could use her violent tendencies for some good, but the something that lived inside here wasn't stratified were tearing up simple grimm. Then there was a time when she tried to get a normal job, but that quickly ended when there was a bloody accident with a particularly rude co-worker._

 _There were many other little segments of her life after that but they were all marked with her being mute, homeless and alone. She hated the something inside her. It never outright controlled her, perhaps it couldn't, but Neo couldn't help but think that just manipulating her feelings and emotions was worse because with that it was still her that was doing all these awful things._

 _Eventually, she decided it would be best to end it all, and it was right before she was about to go through with it that she met Roman, her savior. He gave her two options. One, kill herself and let that something free to find another child to settle inside, or two, keep living and come work for him. He couldn't get rid of the something inside her, it could never leave her, but he could help her to control it. Make her life her own in a way it had never been before._

 _Neo accepted his offer and the rest is history. The only loose end was her half-brother. He's still alive somewhere out there and she still hates him for everything he put her through. Realistically, she knows that now she's so much stronger than him that it's absurd. It wouldn't be hard to take her revenge, but every time she thinks about going after him a pit opens in her stomach. A pit filled with so much terror that it hurts. She feels like a little girl again, locked in a tool shed naked and afraid._

 _No matter how strong she gets, she knows she'll never be able to confront her half-brother because he was a monster. Not an artificial one created from a mistake like she was, but a true monster. A natural monster that had it in his blood since the beginning._

* * *

 **An: When I originally planned this story, I promised myself that I wouldn't take on a separate project, but it's been nearly two years since this story started and a new idea has planted itself inside my head that I can't resist anymore.**

 **So, I'm happy to announce that the next chapter you will be seeing from me will not be for this story but for a brand new RWBY story. I wish I could say that this decision won't affect this story at all, but working on two stories at once obviously means I have to split my time between them. That said, with college out for winter break I expect to have much more time to write so hopefully this story will update sooner than usual and I think having a variety of projects to work on will keep me motivated for when school does come back. I plan to alternate chapters between the stories with the first chapter of the new story nearly done already. Hopefully, all of you will give it a look. After all, it's time the other dork/villain pair got some love.**

 **A Series of (un)fortunate Meetings**

 **Summary: After Beacon falls, Team RWBY is broken and Team RNJR never forms. Alone Ruby sets off into the Sanus frontier to be the hero she always wanted to be, but it's out there where she bumps into the frustrating assassin that messed everything up in the first place—then keeps bumping into him! And (un)fortunately, you can only spend so much time with someone before they grow on you.**


	32. Chapter 32

**Beta** : ShadowMeister234

The start of Yang's and Emerald's expedition was largely the same as Jaune's had been. Cryphilictal was mostly silent and still as they traversed the twisting labyrinth of stone streets and buildings. Their goal was the upside-down tower thinking (correctly) that Jaune would have tried to get to the only obviously landmark in the whole city. They tried following the most direct path but quickly found, just as Jaune had, that Cryphilictal disliked direct paths, and because of that the path they chose to follow diverged from Jaune's original path pretty early on.

The other key difference between the two journeys was while Jaune had to bear it alone, the girls had each other to talk to and it shouldn't be underestimated just what a difference that can make.

"Do you think we could cut through one of these buildings?" Yang asked.

"I doubt it would be that easy," Emerald replied, "but if we go too far off course, we can try looking for a backdoor."

Yes, so far, whether by luck or design, the choices the girls had made at each signpost had pushed them closer to the tower more consistently than Jaune's path ever did. Not that they could have recreated their path since in their haste they didn't think to mark their choices like Jaune.

"Even if there isn't a backdoor we can always make one," Yang said bumping her fist together.

"Do you really want to start breaking down walls and draw attention to ourselves?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure there's anything here to draw attention from?"

"There is, you can trust me on that," Emerald stated.

Yang didn't look convinced. It was amazing how quickly someone could normalize such abnormal events. They were walking through an underground city that reeked of unnaturalness and yet Yang had adapted and was acting like the city itself was as deep as it went. That just by seeing it she understood everything.

She didn't, not even close. Yang had only just gotten her feet wet with the unknown world when it's depths were unfathomable.

Emerald couldn't really blame her, though. She was new and even Emerald wasn't immune from thinking that the unknown world couldn't surprise her, as proven back at the ruins above. She had believed that Cryphilictal was dead, it's magic a mystery that was all used up, and she had believed that right up until the point it had been shoved right in front of her face.

Jaune never doubted. He had never fallen for the trap. He believed in Cryphilictal before they even boarded the airship. Maybe that was because he used magic himself. Since he knew so much more about what went into the unknown world than her, he recognized that there was nothing that couldn't come from it. Perhaps being a caretaker actually did make you immune to such confident assertions.

Emerald brought her hands up to look at her palms. They were rough and calloused, proof of her hard work and her time on the street. All that effort and all that sacrifice and it hadn't done her any good. Cryphilictal had knocked her aside with ease.

Jaune had offered to teach her how to use magic after they had gotten back from Bury in return for the combating training she was giving him, but she had declined. He had seemed very confused over that and asked her a few times if she was sure, but he let it go after a while. Maybe he thought she just didn't want to dedicate the time to it and to an extent he was right. She had witnessed the hours on hours of research he poured himself into so he could make even the littlest bit of progress. Spending so much time glaring at a book didn't appeal it her, but she mainly refused because she didn't like how any magic she did learn wouldn't be under her control.

That might seem silly but it mattered to her. Magic always came from something else. No matter how much it might look like it, none of the magic Jaune used was actually his. It was just him manipulating something for his own benefit. He could give his theories and explanations for why his etches work for hours, but at the end of it all, the only true answer was that the etches worked because they worked. If one day they stopped, then Jaune wouldn't have any recourse and really no right to even complain. It was completely out of his control and relying on the good grace of some external force wasn't something Emerald wanted to do.

She wanted everything she did to come from her own power. Perhaps you could make the argument that her aura and semblance were a type of magic, and even Jaune admitting things got a little blurry there, but as far as Emerald could tell those things came from within her. She could feel them, control them, and nobody else could have them. They were all hers.

Now she was wondering if she had made a serious mistake. With Jaune gone they had a serious gap in their otherworldly knowledge. Emerald only knew what she had picked up for Jaune and that had been enough to get by, but this was Cryphilictal, more or less the capital of magic. If something appeared that required some fine-tuned understanding, then they were screwed.

She wondered if things might be different right now if she had been a little more knowledgeable and a little less sure of herself back above ground. Would she have recognized the sickness for what it was? Would they have been able to do something about it beforehand? Would it have stopped Jaune from being forced to dive into the city alone?

Would he still be with them?

She knew these were useless thoughts. The past couldn't be changed and decisions couldn't be taken back, but that didn't mean she could just stop thinking about it.

"You're being really quiet?" Yang mentioned.

Emerald looked up only to realize they had travel quite the distance and even made a few turns without her noticing. "Sorry, I've just been thinking about some things."

Yang didn't miss how sad she sounded and moved a little closer so their shoulders were almost touching as they walked. "Worried about your boyfriend?"

"Of course, I'm worried about him. He also not my boyfriend," Emerald clarified just because it felt like she should, "but we've been through a lot together. If he's," she could bring herself to use the word _dead_ , "not well, then I don't know what I'm going to do."

"He means a lot to you, doesn't he?"

"You probably wouldn't understand."

"Did you forget why I am here? My sister means the world to me. I would do anything for her."

"I'm don't disagree. I'm sure Ruby is the most important person to you. If you lost her it would be awful, but you'd still have others: parents, friends, teachers. It's different for me. Jaune is the only one I have. If I were to lose him, I wouldn't have anyone else to turn to. I'd be completely alone…again," Emerald finished in a whisper Yang barely heard.

But Yang did hear, and unfortunately Emerald was right. Yang didn't know what it was like to be completely dependent on a single person. Even during the worst time of her life, when Summer died, she still had her sister and dad. She couldn't imagine what it would have been like if they had somehow all died and left her behind. To have absolutely no one else would unthinkable, but evidently, that was the reality Emerald seemed to be facing. Clearly, Jaune was her everything, or at least that's what she believed.

Yang placed a hand on the green-haired girl's shoulder. "You'd have me."

Emerald looked her in the eyes with an ambiguous expression. "I was under the impression that we didn't like each other that much."

Yang was shocked at first, but quickly felt her lips tug upwards as she realized this was Emerald version of a joke. Probably made to take her mind off more disturbing thoughts. If that was the case, Yang was happy to play along.

"Well, we did sleep together. I think that more than proves we got over our issues with each other."

"You sure? I've heard that sometimes people who hate each other still get it on. What's it called? Angry sex."

"But, things didn't go that far, unless there's something you remember that I don't. All we did was cuddle and last I checked there was no such thing as angry cuddling."

"Then maybe we've broken new ground," Emerald pointed out.

Yang couldn't keep it together after that and burst out in laughter which in turn caused Emerald to do the same. If there had been something watching and waiting to ambush them, they would have been in trouble, but at the moment neither of them cared. In this gloomy, decrepit place a moment of distraction to lift their sprints was probably worth it.

"Thanks for that," Emerald said once they got themselves under control.

"No problem, that's what friends are for and we really are friends now."

"I guess," Emerald shrugged acting like it wasn't a big deal, but she couldn't quite hide her happiness from Yang.

They continued on their journey with a little more vigor and picked their paths with more confidence which only seemed to tip things further in their favor as they started closing in on the tower even quicker than before.

"So, what's Jaune really like. I've only really known him when he's in mission mode or close to black-out drunk?" Yang asked now that Emerald was a little more composed, and if there was one thing Yang loved, it was getting all the juicy details.

"He's not that much different than what you've been seeing. He's horribly stubborn and acts like it's his responsibility to fix every little problem he comes across, but he's hard-working, clever, and willing to bend the rules to get the job done. He's a little goofy but he can trade word jabs with the best of them. More than anything, though, he's kind and caring. Nice enough to take a chance on a dirty street rat even though she left her first impression by pickpocketed him and then forcing him to buy her dinner after he caught her."

"Sounds like an interesting story."

"It is. Afterward, we went and robbed a museum." Emerald smiled thinking back on those early days.

"Is that why you love him?" Yang said quickly hoping Emerald would slip up.

Sadly, for Yang, Emerald wasn't someone that would fall for that trap so easily. That being said, Emerald didn't have anything to hide and it might be nice to finally talk to someone about it.

"Yeah, I love him," she said confidently.

Yang missed a step and nearly went tumbling forwards, but she caught herself and continued on like nothing had happened. "But, he's not your boyfriend?"

"No, we're not together."

"Why not? Obviously, you know what you want."

"Do I?" Emerald question, worryingly. "Jaune is the only boy, the only person I've ever been this close to in a very long time. I barely interact with anyone besides him. I don't even know what a proper relationship looks like, let alone what it means to be in one. What if I'm just mistaken and these feelings are only because he's the only one I can have feelings for?"

"If there your feelings they can't be wrong," Yang said feeling bad for this total mess of a girl. Just what kind of life had she been living if she was questioning her own emotions? "Besides figuring this stuff out is the whole reason dating exists."

"We've been on a few dates although I don't think he recognized them as dates."

"Well, you said you live with the guy, right? Did you make it clear it was a date, the romantic kind?"

"I hinted at it."

"Yeah, that's not going to work," Yang stated. "He's the type of guy that will never be able to pick up the subtle clues of a girl's heart. Which I was able to figure out after only a few days with him so I know you knew that too. Why did you ever try that approach?"

Now Emerald was looking somewhat embarrassed. "Like I said, I didn't quite understand what I was feeling, so I wasn't sure if I even wanted them to be romantic dates. I decided it would be better to test the waters and see how he felt. If he felt something for me, then wouldn't he try and make it romantic? But, he never did so maybe he's just not into me."

"Or he's just got no balls. Ugh, you sure know how to pick them. Those types are the worst. Guys who can't read the room to save their lives but are also too cowardly to make a move. Listen, you've got to make your position as clear as possible."

"How do you suggest I do that?"

Yang smirked in a way that made Emerald's danger senses tingle. "When we find Jaune, you need to jump into his arms and give him a smooch on the lips."

For the first time in years, Emerald's face exploded in red which Yang counted as a victory.

"I can't do that," Emerald almost yelped.

"Why not? And don't tell me it's because it would be too embarrassing."

"It just wouldn't be the right time."

"I think it would be." Yang changed her voice to sound deeper like she was narrating a movie trailer. "Two people separated in a strange and dangerous city. The man having to leave his lover's side looking to find a cure for her mysterious sickness, but the girl wakes up and chases after him only for the two to share a passionate kiss when they finally reunite. Sound like the premise of a romance novel if you ask me."

"Well, you're wrong. Jaune and I have not been on the best of terms lately. You saw how we were fighting after he decided to go on this mission."

"Yeah, but that was only because you were worried about each other. That's a difference and that was days ago. You two aren't fighting anymore so trust me, it'll be fine."

"And if it isn't?"

"Then you'll always have me, honey muffin." Yang winked.

"Sorry, I don't swing that way."

"You right. I'm a better fit for honey muffin. With your green hair, you'd be pistachio muffin."

"That's not what I mean."

"I know," Yang chuckled, "but I like the pistachio muffin name. I think I'll tell Jaune about it."

"Don't," Emerald said with the utmost seriousness, "he'd definitely go for it and no matter what my feelings are, I don't think I'd be able to stop myself from killing him."

The two of them let that sentence hang in the air for a bit before they shared another good laugh. Sadly, happiness wasn't meant to last in Cryphilictal and the sound of another pair of footsteps killed it immediately as the girls went on high alert.

Emerald grabbed her weapons and Yang ready her fist as the sound of approaching footsteps slowly got closer.

"You think it might be Jaune?" Yang whispered.

"No, he would have heard us laughing and said something," Emerald replied.

They both stood their ground waiting for whatever it was to show itself, but what came around the bend wasn't what either of them were expecting. Far from any eldritch monsters, the source of the footsteps was just a normal guy although he didn't look like he was in very good shape.

He was barely able to stand as he wobbled forward like a zombie. His shirt fluttered around him, looking like it was about two sizes too big, and his hair hung in front of his face like a drape. He probably didn't even realize Yang and Emerald were in front of him.

"Are you okay?" Yang said dropping her fists and stepping forward.

"Don't!" Emerald yelled, throwing in arm in front of Yang to stop her. "This might be a trap."

"He needs help," Yang chastised, slapping Emerald's hand out of the way.

Emerald clicked her tongue, angry that Yang was being so reckless. She was just like Jaune in that sense.

Not being able to stop her, Emerald followed Yang but unbeknownst to her, she used her semblance on the injured man to make him think they were a few feet ahead of where they actually were. If this was a trap and he attacked when they got to him, their illusionary bodies would be the target instead of their actual ones.

That careful precaution didn't end up mattering though, as the man collapsed just as Yang reached him. She caught him, but then her face turned a sickly green as she got her first good look at him. Gently, she lowered herself to her knees so she could rest the man's head on top of her legs.

Emerald knelt down too and got to witness the same sight. It was far from the worst thing she had ever seen, but it was so unusual and disturbing that it made Emerald want to puke.

The man looked like a dried-up mummy. There was no other way to say. His clothes had engulfed him not because they were too big, they had probably fit perfectly beforehand, but because the man had shriveled up like a raisin. His glassy eyes were so shrunken into his head that they looked like hollow craters. His skin was stretched thin and was full of cracks like he was a statue; however, the red muscle Emerald could see peeking out from between the cracks clarified the reality.

"Can you hear me?" Yang said accidentally shaking him a bit in the process. A piece of skin fell off his cheek, and Yang only grew greener as she watched the skin petal drift away. She took her hand completely off him, just letting him lay in her lap.

"My name is Yang Xiao Long," she tried again. "I'm a huntress from Beacon academy. Who are you? Who did this to you?"

The man blinked once, and even that seemed to be an exhausting process, as he looked up at Yang's face. "M-Maple…" he gasped.

"Maple," Yang repeated, "Who's that?"

"Why…" was the only response she got before the man turned his head and died.

* * *

They crossed under an archway, that may have been guarded long ago, and exited what Jaune had considered the city's slums. The area they arrived in was much more open with building spread apart and clear pathways. It wouldn't take them much longer to get to the tower.

They might have been there already if Yang wasn't moving at the speed of a snail. Ever since they had encountered that walking mummy, Yang had been moving with her head down and her arms slacked at her sides, and genuinely just looking lost.

"We should have done something for him?" Yang mumbled for what must have been the eighth time.

Emerald hadn't responded anytime before, having wanted to give her some space and let her work things out on her own, but this time she did. It had already been dangerous for Yang to be acting like that in the labyrinth of buildings, but now they were in an open space, where attacks could come from everywhere. Yang couldn't afford to be distracted anymore.

"There was nothing we could have done to save him," Emerald said.

"I meant after that. It just feels so wrong to leave him there."

"What else could we have done. This place is made completely from stone so there's nowhere to bury him, and it's not like we could have carried him with us."

"I know," Yang signed, "it's just that it feels like we discarded him. No one deserves that."

"It the sad truth of this world that a lot of people don't get respect, either before or after their deaths."

"You've seen people die before, haven't you? You're acting way too calm," Yang said as they walked over a small bridge that crossed over a canal. If she had been paying more attention, she might have noticed how crystal blue the water was and have been tempted to take a drink.

"I have," Emerald replied. There had been all the stuff that happened in Bury, but even before that, there had been Robin and those death matches while she was under Sir. Maybe she could have told Yang that story to help her in the same way she had helped Jaune with Lily, but that time in her life was deeply personal to Emerald. Even after their little moment of friendship, she just wasn't close enough to Yang to reveal it. "You move on, eventually," Emerald settled with.

Yang didn't seem to like that answer even if it was the truth. Honestly, it should be easier for Yang since she didn't actually know the guy. "How could you ever move on from someone's death?"

"You just do."

"Doesn't it get to you?"

It did, but not for the reasons Yang was thinking. Seeing that man die only served to make her worry about Jaune even more. As if there had been any doubt, Cryphilictal had just proven that it was capable of killing. What did that mean for Jaune? If they made it to the upside-down tower and he wasn't there, what would they do then? Emerald didn't want to think about a scenario where they were forced to wander around the city just hoping to bump into Jaune. That way would almost certainly lead to their deaths.

"Who do you think that guy was?" Yang asked having given up on getting an answer to her last question.

"Someone who came here looking for something," Emerald said. "Same as us."

Yang grimaced. "What do you think did that to him?"

"Something we don't want to run into."

"I'm with you there."

The girls crossed another canal and enter the center compass that was the land of step pyramid shrines. The tower was in their sights in all of its majestic glory. If they had arrived from the east side they would have found the signs of the fight Jaune had been in, but since their labyrinth path had taken them southbound, they missed it completely.

The tower stood as tall and mighty as ever, but many things were different, even if the girls didn't know. For one the gaze that had followed Jaune throughout his exploration had never made an appearance. The warmth and soft beating of the tower that had driven Jaune to embrace were also absent.

In replace for all that was a narrow staircase that led up and into the tower about four feet up. Seeing what was inside the tower was impossible. The only thing that appeared to be at the doorway's entrance was a lightless void of inky black.

"So, you think Jaune went in there?" Yang asked.

"If you were traveling alone looking for a way to cure your friends of an unnatural sickness and you saw this, would you go inside?" Emerald asked back.

"I guess," Yang relented, "but I wouldn't like it."

"I don't like it either, but in this city, I doubt there are many places I would like to enter."

"It just felt too easy. Besides running into that poor guy, we made it to the center of the city without hitting a single danger or obstacle. It doesn't feel right."

"Nothing about this city feels right."

Yang threw her and into the air. "That's what I'm saying but we didn't have a single problem. It's like we were being protected by something."

"Or we were being led here by something," Emerald commented.

"Are we really going inside?"

"We have to."

"I know, but it doesn't even look like there's enough room for both of us to fit inside," Yang offered as an excuse.

"If you scared just admit it."

"Of course, I'm scared. Look at that doorway. It's creepy."

"Scared enough to turn around and risk losing out on your little sister's cure."

"Never."

"Then why are you complaining?"

Yang shrugged. "Because I want to."

"You did strike me as the kind of person that complains about everything just because they can."

"I felt the same way about you."

Emerald sighed. "Let's just go already."

"I'll let you take the lead. I'm okay with Yang-ing back."

"Whatever," Emerald said fighting the urge to groan at the awful pun.

Emerald wouldn't lie and say she wasn't a little nervous while she climbed the white stairs. When she reached the last one, she carefully pushed her fingertips passed the entrance and into the inky darkness. When her finger didn't burst into flames, explode or melt away, she grew more confident and took her first step into the upside-down tower.

Yang followed close behind.

* * *

The world was dark, yet it was hot. He knew he could take care of one of those problems by just opening his eyelids. He didn't want to, though. They were heavy. The strength it would take to force them open was more than he was willing to give. The best option was for him to slip back into a dreamless sleep. He didn't think he had ever been so tried before. What on Remnant had he been doing to end up like this?

He tried to recall. It must have been something important. Surely, he wouldn't have worked himself so hard if it hadn't. There had been an explosion, he was sure of that, and maybe a light show. Had he been at a concert? No, that wasn't right. He had been looking for something. Yeah, that was it! He had been looking for something for Emerald and Yang. He had been trying to save them.

Jaune's eyes shot open as he remembered everything from his arrival to the end where the arrow of light had ripped open his side. He saw the empty husk of the binder compass in front of him so his memories weren't wrong but that meant he should be dead. That fact that he wasn't meant something very peculiar had happened, not that he was going to complain.

He used his arms to push himself off the floor and in the process found that he actually felt pretty good. Not great but way better than what a man who had been shot through the side should be feeling. He also noticed once he got into a sitting position, that his whole body was surrounded in a whitish hue. It looked and felt a lot like his aura but there was something strange about it. He didn't get a chance to investigate it because it disappeared right after he noticed it making him wonder if it had been some kind of hallucination.

He could worry about that later, for now, he moved his hand to his side where there should have been a rather large chunk missing, but instead, he found it completely intact. It was by no means in perfect condition with a definite tightness and most of the skin near his pelvis and stomach an ugly pinkish-red that would probably be with him for the rest of his life, but it was all there. Even more than that, his dislocated pinky was back in place. Tooth was still missing, though.

How had it all healed? The puddle of blood that had formed on the floor after he had been pierced was still a little wet, so nowhere near enough time had passed for his side to heal on its own especially since his aura was competently shattered. Even if his aura had been full, he doubted it could have repaired a wound that large.

That's when he noticed another anomaly on his body. While bringing his left arm up to his face, he saw that there were several silver lines running from his wrist to just below his elbow. They bend at random places as they moved up his arm reminding Jaune of those mazes that were on the back of some kid menus at restaurants.

None of the lines every intersected and as he turned as arm he counted eight in total. Where these strange tattoos what saved him? If so, how and how had he gotten them?

Actually, upon further investigation, they weren't really tattoos at all. When he pushed, or wrinkled, the skin around them, they didn't move at all. They were locked in place like thick silver veins running beneath his skin.

That thought was only mildly terrifying, but for now, the lines weren't causing him any pain or discomfort, so he could probably leave it alone for a bit. For now, his goal was to make it back to Emerald and Yang to see if they were alright.

He got to his feet, which was easier than it had been a while, took one last look at the destroyed binder compass then climbed the stairs to the metal mesh balcony. A lot of the lights on the console up there were violently blinking red which only boosted his confidence that the binder compass was out of commission for good.

He walked back out in the maze of hallways and did his best to retrace his steps. He must have done a pretty good job since it didn't take him long to find the staircase leading back up to the cathedral. He almost couldn't believe he had navigated with such accuracy; in fact, he couldn't believe it. No way should he have found his way back so easily.

He looked at the silver lines on his arm again wondering if they had something to do with it. Maybe they did or maybe he really had just gotten lucky. It wasn't like the lines were glowing or anything like that, so there wasn't any way to tell.

The sanctuary was exactly as he remembered with one huge exception. The ice sculptor that had revealed the way forward was no longer there. In its place was a puddle of water and two milky white orbs which even now seemed capable of staring at him.

Not wanting to put too much thought into the implications of the ice sculptor being melted, Jaune quickly exited the cathedral entirely and descended the hundred or so steps down to the water's edge only to be met with the worst possible sight.

The ferryman and the gondola he possessed were gone. Jaune couldn't see it anywhere on the lake and had no way to call it back which meant he was marooned on cathedral island. "Damn it!" Jaune spat kicking empty air towards the lake. It wasn't even that far of a swim back to Cryphilictal proper, but he couldn't even do that since the water disintegrated whatever it touched.

He sat on the steps for a bit trying to think of a way off of the island, but nothing came to mind. It was possible Yang and Emerald could rescue him but he didn't even know if they were awake, and even if they were, they'd have no idea he was here.

He shouldn't have trusted the ferryman. He should have been more skeptical when it had brought him to an island, but of all the ways he expected to die in Cryphilictal being left on an island to starve had been pretty low on the list.

Without a clear goal in mind, Jaune marched his way back up the stupid stairs and into the cathedral. The lobby had nothing for him so he continued to the sanctuary thinking that he might try the underground maze again and look for an alternate exit.

However, he didn't make it that far because the melted ice sculptor had reformed. This time not into a person but a door. It was glassy smooth with no elaborate designs on it, but there was a single word, one written in a language Jaune could actually read, chiseled across it.

"LIBRARY"

He walked up to the ice door finding that it was the perfect size for him to fit through. The doorknob was just a larger version of the white orb that had once been the ice sculptor's eyes. Walking around to the other side of the doorway just revealed a mirror image and should have indicated that opening the door would have led nowhere, but Jaune knew better at this point.

He grasped the doorknob and felt a chill race up his arm. Then he turned it, and just as easily as every other door he _needed_ , it opened.

* * *

Excerpt from the book

 _Semblances, just like aura, have difficulty being categorized into either the known or the unknown world. They definitely can't be natural but fall just short of what could be considered magic since 1) there is no defined way to unlock or control them 2) they differ from person to person and 3) they don't have any connections or interactions with the rest of the unknown world which means they can't be expanded on or built upon with outside effects. (Note: Some semblances do seem to interact with dust but this is better contributed to the attributes of dust than the attributes of any semblance.)_

 _A popular theory is that semblances are simply a leftover of the Brother's magic when they left Remnant, and while there is evidence to suggest that, I find it hard to believe that the Brothers could make such a mistake as to accidentally leave some of their power behind._

 _What I believe is that when the Brothers left Remnant, the humans, and faunus shortly after, somehow evolved with the power to unlock semblances making it a type of pseudo internal magic that normal beings are not capable of. All living things have a soul after all, but it's only these two species that are capable of unlocking semblances._

 _There are many problems with my theory but that's just the nature of semblances. There's just so much we don't know about them. For instance, are semblances decided at birth or is it shaped by our experience and personality. Unless one has a time machine there's no way to know for sure and there's plenty of arguments to be made for both sides._

 _For the decided-at-birth side, there's the fact that some semblances move through a family from generation to generation. Then there are the semblances that reveal themselves the moment the user unlocks their aura. There are also some who never manifest a semblance at all even with their aura unlocked._

 _For the variable side, there's the fact that more often than not a semblance suits the personality of their users. Also, the vast majority of semblances awaken during a time of high stress or intense training and almost always the semblance manifest in a way that is abnormally well suited to handle the trouble the user is in. It's that phenomena that has many people claim, although it's hard to prove, that a semblance is at its absolute strongest when it first awakens._

 _It's a one-time cheat that some humans and faunus are granted when they need it most. Whatever is gained afterward is nothing more than a bonus._


End file.
